Midget AA Lady Wolves repeat as provincial champions

With five of the 10 teams representing the Sudbury Lady Wolves at the OWHA Provincials making their way through to semifinal play on April 12, the highlights were many from a northern perspective.

Arguably, few shone brighter than the Midget AA Lady Wolves, who successfully defended their All-Ontario title with a 4-1 win over the Saugeen-Maitland Lightning, earning a trip to the 2015 Esso Cup in Red Deer, Alta., in the process.

Mélisa Kingsley scored twice to lead the way, with Karli Shell and Kennedy Roy adding one goal apiece. Coach Richard Walker and company advanced to the championship encounter by virtue of a 2-1 win over the Aurora Panthers, after edging the Whitby Wolves 1-0 in quarter-final play on the evening of April 11.

Shell and Tayler Murphy tallied against Aurora, with defenceman Jamie Ricci enjoying a rare opportunity to play the role of offensive hero, drilling home the only goal of the game versus Whitby. Danika Ranger recorded the shutout.

Despite some early tournament struggles that would see the Midgets score in the final minute of a 2-1 opening game win that was followed by a 4-3 loss to Waterloo, Walker suggests there was no need to panic.

"We anticipated that we would be rusty, but that as long as we got better, we would be fine," said Walker. "That was the message to the girls — to get better every game, and I thought that we did that."

Walker will enter the Esso Cup championships with the advantage of having taken in the tournament one year ago in Stoney Creek, with his daughter (Sydney) a member of the Sudbury team that claimed bronze medals.

As such, he has some idea as to a general game plan entering the tournament that kicks off April 19.

"I think you have to be patient and recognize that if you lose a game, or you make some mistakes, you have a bit of time to correct it," he said.

"It's a long week. I think legs management is going to be particularly important for us."

As they did in 2014, Sudbury will open play against the representatives from Saskatchewan, facing the Saskatoon Stars.

The Senior A Lady Wolves fell just one step short of matching the midgets, settling for silver, this despite losing their first two games of the weekend.

With head coach Roy Talevi at the helm, the Seniors won four straight elimination games, edging the Brantford Ice Cats 2-1 in the semifinal before dropping a 3-1 decision to the Aurora Panthers in the gold-medal affair.

The Midget BB Lady Wolves made it one medal of each colour for the Sudbury girls, bouncing back from a 2-0 semifinal loss to the Lakeshore Lightning to trip up the Whitby Wolves 3-1 in the bronze-medal encounter.

Josée Scott scored a pair of goals to lead the way for the local squad, with Meaghan Smith adding the remaining marker. Both the Bantam A and Atom AA girls settled for fourth place, with both teams enjoying an outstanding stretch of hockey in the weekend to work their way into the top-four teams, in their division, in the province.

After posting a round-robin record of 2-1-0, the Bantams blanked Aurora 1-0 in a cross-over matchup, and shut out the London Devilettes in the quarter-finals to make it through to the Final Four.

The team could not overcome either the Kitchener Lady Rangers or Nepean Wildcats on April 12, losing 3-1 and 4-2. The Atom AA crew finished pool play at 1-1-1, sliding into second place, but were edged 2-1 by the Durham West Lightning in the semis.

Unfortunately, the team could not bounce back in the bronze-medal encounter, as the Ottawa Ice defeated the Lady Wolves 4-1.