U18 C Girls claim hockey silver at Fergus tournament

The U18 C Girls St. Marys Rock took the silver medal at the Grand River Mustangs Remembrance Day Classic in Fergus Nov. 7-9. Pictured in the front row, from left to right, are Silver Breckon, Malaika Kibedi, Ella Frayne, Cortney Linton, Cammie Lobb and Marci Linton. In the back row, from left, are Abby McMillan, Paisley Wood, Deanna Muir, Kasey Storey, Georgia Edwards, Sunny Derbyshire, Brooklynn Roth, Georgia Agar, Isobelle Williams and Chloe Pethick. Not pictured was Sydney Haanstra.

By Spencer Seymour

The U18 C Girls St. Marys Rock took home the silver medals from the Grand River Mustangs Remembrance Day Classic Nov. 7-9 in Fergus.

After finishing third in the three-game round-robin, the Rock took on the Ottawa Ice in the semi-final. Chloe Pethick scored the only goal of the first period to put St. Marys ahead 1-0, before the two teams traded goals in the second frame, including a goal by Cammie Lobb.

Head coach Kelly Linton noted his squad finally began to address a concern they had been working on throughout the start of the season – starting on time.

“We began playing the way we needed to in the first period,” Linton told the Independent. “In the semi-final, that was the biggest difference maker. We just give them a reminder to go out and start right from the beginning of the first period. We basically had a screaming contest in the dressing room before the game, and I think that helped out a little bit. We told them to keep it simple, win the faceoff, get the puck into their end and get a shot right off the bat. That’s what they did, and they built on it from there.”

With the score tied at the end of regulation and overtime, the game entered a shootout with the winner earning a berth in the championship contest. After the first two rounds went by without a goal, Cortney Linton fired a shot that went off the post and into the net, followed by Ottawa’s shot hitting off the post and turning out of the net.

In between the pipes, Malaika Kibedi turned in a strong showing throughout the weekend.

The Rock came up just short in the finals against Stittsville, falling 1-0, resulting in St. Marys leaving with the silver.

Linton said the team’s forechecking pressure was one of the biggest factors in advancing to the final game.

“When we turned the puck over, we got after it right away, and that makes huge differences in the game. When everybody was taking part in the forecheck, those were the moments we were at our best. When you can make 80 per cent of the girls forechecking hard, you’re going to force the team to turn over more pucks, and you’re going to control it more. I hope the success this weekend shows them how much fun winning is, and they continue to roll from here.”