U14 R Snipers bring home silver from Kitchener tournament

The St. Marys Kinsmen-Cascades U14 R St. Marys Snipers took the silver medal at the Kitchener Golden Ring Tournament Jan. 30 to Feb. 1. Pictured laying in front is Liv Hendriks. In the first row, from left to right, are Evan Habermehl, Abilene Votary, Regan Smith, Mikayla Ford and Vaida Graham. In the back row, from left, are Ashlyn O’Hara, Amara Grant, Bria Henderson, Adriana McCutchen, Brenna Bearss, Lyla Habermehl, Korey Graham, Lori Bearss and Anthony Votary.

By Spencer Seymour

The St. Marys Kinsmen-Cascades U14 R St. Marys Snipers captured the silver medal at the Kitchener Golden Ring Tournament Jan. 30 to Feb. 1.

According to head coach Korey Graham, the tournament encapsulated the team’s season-long progression.

“From a coaching perspective, this weekend was about how far we have come as a team,” Graham told the Independent. “From doing all the little things to have success, the work put in practices and the attention to details, we were really happy. Was it a perfect weekend by the results? No, but we did a lot of really good things in every game.”

After losing their first game of the tournament 3-2 to the Mitchell Stingers followed by a 6-2 victory over the Kitchener Wildcats, the Snipers needed a win or a tie in their third game against the Caledonia Lightning to advance to the championship contest, and they jumped out to a hot start, scoring the first three goals of the game.

“The girls were consistent every game with quick starts, and this game (against Caledonia) was no different,” said Graham. “We got a 1-0 lead early in the game. We were engaged and playing quality ringette that led us to a 3-0 lead. We kept telling the girls, ‘Keep going, don’t let off the gas.’ Caledonia realized they had to change their style and made some adjustments, and our team was not ready for it. They had two checkers on us at all times and took away the space, and we started chasing the game.”

Adriana McCutchen opened the scoring just 17 seconds in before a pair of goals by Breanna Bearss extended St. Marys’ lead to three. However, the Lightning responded in the latter half of the first, eventually tying the game at three apiece heading into the second.

Mikayla Ford added another goal for St. Marys in the second period.

It was in the second frame that Graham credited his squad for their resilience in closing out the game.

“At the break, we talked to the girls about getting back to our game and not Caledonia’s, and start moving the ring quicker through the zones. The second period was a tight, contested period with both teams trading chances and each team was rewarded with a goal. The tie was good enough for us, but not Caledonia, so, with two minutes to go, they pulled their goalie as they were going for the win. We battled strong and played some hard defense and with the smallest roster of nine skaters and a goalie, found a way to defend and not concede a late goal.”

In Graham’s eyes, the group’s willingness to battle back against adversity started in their very first game of the tournament.

“I believe we set the tone in our first game against Mitchell, one of our biggest rivals,” Graham said. “It’s always a close game, and ultimately, we lost 3-2, but it was a heck of a game. The compete level by all of our players was memorable. I think getting second place sets our girls up with confidence. We can beat any of those teams, and that was our takeaway. It will give us a boost for the remaining league games and set us up to compete at regionals.”

Though they were unsuccessful in coming away with the win in the finals, Graham had high praise for the entirety of the squad.

“Our goalie Liv (Hendriks) was excellent. She battled through adversity in the finals and came out with a strong second period. All the girls played their hearts out. With only four players on the bench, one forward line and one spare defender, they had to give everything each shift, and we can honestly say they did. Adriana (McCutchen), Bria (Henderson) and Amara (Grant) were strong on defence. Lyla (Habermehl), Breanna (Bearss) and Vaida (Graham) showed tremendous chemistry that helped the success of that line, and the tenacious checking of Mikalya (Ford), Regan (Smith) and Abilene (Votary) was noticeable each game.”

Graham also stated the tournament result reflected the team’s “tremendous growth” over the course of the season.

“We have been working on some set plays when we have a free ring in the offensive end,” Graham said. “We executed the play against each team and came out with great scoring chances. It was nice to see them apply what we are working on and execute it in game situations.

“Our conditioning has come a long way, and it needed to, again with such a small roster. All the skating and dryland training is benefiting us now, and we will only get better. Our team character has also continued to get better as we’re playing for each other. This is an amazing group of girls with great camaraderie.”