U15 B Girls capture gold at Festival Cup

The Sam's Home Hardware U15 B Girls St. Marys Rock earned the gold medal at the Festival Cup held Nov. 15-17. Pictured in the front row, from left to right, are Maddie Jefferies, Jenna Gooder, Ramona Graham, Abby Russell and Ellie MacArthur. In the middle, from left, are Kayla Visneskie, Kasey Storey, Brooke Roth, Emma Carradine, Maeve Wheeler, Mira Broughton, Chloe Pethick, Avery Fifield, Janet Edye and Chandler Smith. In the back, from left, are Mike Carradine, Kelly Linton and Bob Wheeler.

By Spencer Seymour

The Sam's Home Hardware U15 B Girls St. Marys Rock went undefeated in the Festival Cup tournament hosted Nov. 15-17, defeating the Lambeth Lancers 3-2 in the gold-medal game.

After a dominant 3-1 victory in the semis against the Wilmot Wolverines, the Rock met the Lancers in the championship contest where, for much of the game, the play stayed in Lambeth’s half of the ice. According to head coach Kelly Linton, the team’s swarming presence in the opposition’s zone lifted them to their eventual win.

“Our pressure in the offensive zone was great,” Linton told the Independent. “We didn't let them get into our end much. We outshot them by a pretty good margin. We were in their zone most of the time and that allowed us to control most of the game. We didn’t have to worry too much about goals going in since we spent a lot of time in their end, but even when we weren’t, Ramona (Graham) was awesome in net for us.”

Kayla Visneskie, Chloe Pethick and Maddie Jefferies scored for St. Marys in the final game. Visneskie is one-third of the team’s top line alongside Ellie MacArthur and Emma Carradine, while Pethic and Jeffreys are part of a gritty, responsible trio of forwards in addition to Kasey Storey.

Linton had high praise for both lines, noting the team’s depth was critical to their eventual tournament victory.

“What impressed me most was the strength of our depth. We had contributions from every line. Our line of Chloe, Maddie and Kasey did really well this weekend. We got two goals from them in the finals and another earlier in the tournament when we hadn’t gotten a ton of offensive production from them this season. They really stepped up this weekend and made a big difference for us, which hopefully will give them a good confidence boost.

“Our first line of Kayla, Ellie and Emma was fantastic throughout the tournament as well,” added Linton. “They controlled the puck incredibly well and were a big reason why we were able to keep the play in the other team’s end so much. They definitely were a factor for most of the weekend.”