U11 B Girls never outworked in Festival Cup gold-medal run

The St. Marys Landscaping U11 B Girls St. Marys Rock won the gold medal at the Nov. 15-17 Festival Cup tournament. Pictured laying on the ice, from left to right, are Mya Grose and Brynlee Pickel. In the second row, from left, are Amelia Falkiner, Jessica Zwambag, Jaynie Johnston and Audrey Parsons. In the third row, from left, are Emily Ewing, Kylie Blake, Alex Harlton, Samantha Matheson, Addison Hudson, Ellie McDonald and Emily Chateauvert. In the back row, from left, are coaches Dave Blake, Ian Johnston, Jamie Matheson, Marty Rutledge and Nicole Pickel.

By Spencer Seymour

A relentless work ethic led the St. Marys Landscaping U11 B Girls St. Marys Rock to the first-place prize at the Festival Cup held Nov. 15-17.

Head coach Dave Blake told the Independent he was thrilled with the tenacity of his group throughout the tournament.

“Goal number one for every game with this group is to never be outworked in any game, and they delivered on that goal all weekend,” said Blake. “The coaching staff couldn’t be more proud of the compete level these girls showed and their overall determination each game.”

The Rock’s strong teamwork and cohesive play allowed them to explode for 12 goals in the semi-final, taking a 12-0 shutout over the Cambridge Roadrunners to punch their ticket to the finals, where they met a familiar foe in the host Stratford Aces.

Both teams knew each other well, with the game being the fourth meeting of the teams in the last 10 days, and, after a brief spell of somewhat shaky hockey, St. Marys settled into the game and eventually scored the first goal of the contest with Ellie McDonald shaking off multiple defenders before finishing off a breakaway.

Kylie Blake extended the Rock’s lead to two with a goal early in the second frame, punctuating St. Marys’ heavy momentum advantage and forcing Stratford to call a timeout to attempt to stem the tide.

Initially, it seemed to work with the Aces cutting the lead in half midway through the period. However, the second half of the game was overtaken by Jaynie Johnston, who scored St. Marys’ third goal, set up the team’s fourth goal potted by Amelia Falkiner and iced the contest with her second of the game to make it 5-1.

Brynlee Pickel and Mya Grose shared the goaltending duties and both turned in strong play throughout the weekend.

Speaking on his team’s tireless work ethic, Blake said it was central to all of the positive elements of their game that guided the team to their gold medal.

“This team is a group of very strong skaters who have an incredible understanding and ability to backcheck. Every game, when other teams got the puck and tried to get something going, they would be met with strong defence and two forwards hot on their heels. This allows us to not only limit scoring chances against, but also to control play and frustrate opponents.”

The head coach also said the tournament highlighted some positive developments in the squad’s overall abilities.

“Our theme this year has been creating time and space, and we have been working on teaching the players how to do that by being mindful of positioning, anticipating the play and building team-focused skills such as good passing,” Blake said. “We saw big strides this weekend with team play as a whole that allowed us to move the puck around quickly, giving us more time with the puck and better opportunities as a group.”