Jan 10, 2013- 1:34 PM
He doesn't ever remember having one of his teams win four consecutive tournaments.
That was exactly the feat that the Sudbury Intermediate A Lady Wolves accomplished last weekend, needing to survive both a shootout and overtime game to walk away with top honours at the Scarborough Sharks 29th Annual Ice Trials Tournament.
The Intermediate ladies got off to a quicker start in this event than some of their prior competitions, jumping all over the Peterborough Ice Kats en route to a 6-1 win in their opening game.
Tanya Lamon scored twice for the Lady Wolves, with Janick Bazinet, Jacklyn Upchan, Natalie Arbour and Elissa Bertuzzi adding one goal apiece.
The offence remained in high gear for Game 2 as Sudbury stopped the Waterloo Ravens 5-3, with Lamon netting a pair of goals, yet again. Bazinet, Upchan and Marcie Tellier joined the Wawa native and current student at Laurentian University on the scoresheet.
From there, the drama mounted as the Intermediate Lady Wolves improved to 3-0 with a 3-2 win over the Oshawa Lady Generals. Jenna Lantaigne found the back of the net twice to lead the way, with Bertuzzi adding her second of the weekend.
The locals sailed safely through to the semifinals, closing out preliminary-round action with a 3-3 tie with the Kingston Ice Wolves as Arbour, Lamon and Bazinet provided the offence.
Battling the host team with a trip to the finals on the line, the Wolves sat deadlocked 3-3 at the end of regulation time, with Bertuzzi, with a pair, and Upchan, scoring for the northern gals.
An overtime session solved nothing, with no less than 10 penalty shots needed to decide matters. With goaltender Alexi Kennedy stopping all five of the Sharks and Bazinet providing the goal-scoring heroics, Sudbury moved on.
The Lady Wolves would have to face adversity once more, trailing Oshawa 2-0 in the early going of the championship affair, rallying on goals from Bertuzzi and Natalie Band to send the contest to period No. 4.
It was there that Bertuzzi, a senior at Lively District Secondary, would bury her sixth tally of the tournament and undoubtedly her most crucial, lifting Sudbury past the Lady Generals 3-2.
The Lady Wolves roster includes Natalie Arbour, Jenna Lantaigne, Tanya Lamon, Jacklyn Upchan, Erin Jones, Mariah Pollock, Marcie Tellier, Sarah Prescott, Monique Marcotte, Amber Debassige, Haley Roberge, Alexi Kennedy, Janick Bazinet, Natalie Band, Elissa Bertuzzi and Maxine Lebreton.
In addition to head coach Brian Band, the team staff also features associate coaches Rob Marcotte and Dwayne Becker as well as trainer Rachelle Marcotte.
Back in action on the local front this coming weekend, the Intermediate A" Lady Wolves will be facing the Sudbury Midget AA Lady Wolves in an exhibition game Jan. 13 at 5:45 p.m. at the Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex.
