By Dan Plouffe
Two local teams that knew each other very well rose to the top of the Peewee ‘C’ crop, as the Nepean Wildcats knocked off the Kanata Rangers 1-0 in April’s Ontario Women’s Hockey Association provincial championships in Toronto.
“It was a dream season before we won gold,” says Nepean coach Chris Armstrong, noting that his players progressed from the house league ranks to the bottom of the competitive standings and now to the top of Ontario. “It’s just been a tremendous ride for them these past three seasons.”
A similar underdog scenario applied in the Wildcats’ championship game meeting with Kanata. Nepean beat Kanata twice early in the season but had lost every game since then, including the 1-0 shootout Ottawa league final. The neighboring clubs met in many tournament finals this season as they outdueled their provincial rivals on almost every occasion.
“It was not surprising to meet them in the finals,” highlights Rangers coach Andrew Smith, whose team had only a two-hour break following Brianna Saumure’s triple-overtime winning goal in the semi-finals. “That was a real challenge, for sure.”
Decided by Wildcat Cassie Bohm’s goal, the 1-0 scoreline in the Ontario final was predictable. Nepean’s opponents fired up blanks on the scoresheet in 18 of 20 league games. That stingy trend continued at provincials until the tears of joy streamed down goalie Marina Martin’s face after the final victory.
“She was just beside herself, she was just so happy,” recounts Armstrong, who shed a few tears of his own in the locker room. “It’s a long season, it’s very stressful, and you tie yourself emotionally to these little 10- and 11-year-old girls. I was happy for them. It was a big moment.”
Backstopped by the tandem of Tove Jacobson and Korina Joseph between the pipes, Kanata owned an equally stellar defensive record this year, establishing a new club mark for shutouts with 38 in 50 games overall.
“Our goalies are both spectacular,” notes Smith, also praising the team’s strong skaters for the standout defense. “We just have a very solid and deep team. I don’t think anyone will beat that (shutout record) anytime soon. The girls are definitely proud of that. We had a phenomenal season.”
Kanata wins Midget crown
The Kanata Rangers also won a Midget ‘C’ gold medal at provincials, recording three wins in pool play, followed by playoff round victories over Temiskaming, North Bay, and Ilderton.
Nepean squeaked through pool play before a pair of playoff round wins landed them Atom ‘C’ silver, while Gloucester-Cumberland beat Kanata for bronze in the same category. The Ottawa Ice claimed Peewee ‘A’ silver and Nepean took Bantam ‘BB’ bronze, while both the Bantam and Midget ‘AA’ Kanata Ottawa Senators played strong defense to reach the medal round, finishing fourth.