U15 C girls blank Sabres in one-goal shutout

Isabelle Williams scores the only goal of the Veterinary Purchasing U15 C Girls St. Marys Rock’s 1-0 win on Nov. 23.

By Spencer Seymour

The Veterinary Purchasing U15 C Girls St. Marys Rock showed continued growth on Nov. 23 when they earned a 1-0 shutout over the South Huron Sabres.

Head coach Dave Bailey told the Independent, even though it didn’t result in a ton of goals, he was happy with the execution of his squad’s hardnosed gameplan.

“I thought we played really well and, honestly, we were dominant,” said Bailey. “We’re still struggling a little bit from an offensive standpoint and putting pucks in the net, but I think we’re making progress and we’re going in the right direction. We’re starting to see some of the efforts we’ve been putting in during our practices show up in our games.”

The only goal of the game came in the first period when a long-range shot by Tealya Thistle led to a rebound that Isabelle Wiliams banged into the net. Goaltender Lexi Flax stopped all 11 South Huron shots to earn the shutout in goal. Flex was also the team’s first star two nights later in a 1-1 tie against the third-place Mitchell Meteors.

Bailey credited his goaltender and the team as a whole for their excellent goal prevention.

“Our defenders are very strong and they move the puck well. They're just so solid. They're learning to use their advantage on the physical side of the game better. Our forwards work hard at helping out in the defensive end. And our goaltender, Lexi (Flax), has been really good all year. She isn’t the biggest goalie in stature, but she always makes the saves when we need her to.”

With the team approximately a month away from their Silver Stick tournament, Bailey explained why the team’s offensive production could increase if they continue executing their aggressive offensive zone system.

“We’ve been trying to emphasize a hard, aggressive 2-1-2 forecheck, and we started to see progress made with that. Our third forwards are starting to understand what they’re looking for when they’re hanging high. Our defenders did a great job pinching down the wall and keeping pucks in.

“We created a lot of opportunities,” Bailey continued. “We talked a lot about getting rebounds and greasy goals. The pretty ones are nice, but the ones that usually materialize and win hockey games are the ones off of rebounds or gritty battles. I was happy that we were going where we needed to go to create those opportunities, and if we keep doing that, I think we can capitalize on those chances a bit more in the future.”