By Scott Villemaire
They settled for bronze last year, but the Nepean Ravens weren’t going to be denied the gold medal this time around in the U19 Belle division of the Canadian Ringette Championships April 2-6 in Fredericton, N.B.
Trailing 3-1 against the Winnipeg Magic at halftime, Sarah-Lynne Begin scored four second-half goals – all assisted by Karli O’Brien – to lift her Ravens to a 5-4 victory and the national crown.
“It was a dream come true,” said Begin, who scored the winning goal on a beautiful top corner shot with 1:14 left. “Every shift I told myself that it was my shift and every ring was my ring.”
Nepean went undefeated at nationals, after turning the same trick at provincials. Brittany MacDonald, who scored a hat trick in the semi-finals, was named a tournament first-team all-star, while Sydney Catlin and Jenna VanKoppen were on the second team.
Nepean’s title was a testament to the talent that continuously rises in the association, noted Ravens coach Lary Allen, whose squad won despite the absence of last year’s star, Jennifer Gabel.
Gabel, who was selected as the National Ringette League’s rookie of the year, helped the Gloucester Devils return to nationals, where they narrowly missed out on the medal round, falling in mini-games to solve a three-way tie for third after the preliminaries.
Dave Mainwood (coach of the year) and Jasmine Leblanc (top goaltender) also picked up NRL awards for the Devils.
Nepean went 6-1 in the round round but fell in the U16 quarter-finals, while the Ottawa Ice were knocked out in the first round of the U19 playoff round.