By Mat LaBranche
The Nepean Ravens only placed 4th at their mid-March provincial finals, but it turns out that provided the fire they needed en route to a perfect run and a national title in the Belle under-19 division at the March 29-April 4 Canadian Ringette Championships in Wood Buffalo, Alta.
“The girls really came out strong from the first day, and were determined to have a good showing here,” indicates Ravens coach Art Marcotte. “We certainly weren’t the favourite coming in, but we knew we were going to be able to compete here. This was probably the tightest of competition I have ever seen in a national tournament, so to have gone undefeated was really something special.”
Nepean blanked Team Alberta 3-0 in the championship game, with Rianne Munro earning the shutout in goal. Earlier, the Ravens survived a 4-3 overtime semi-final against B.C. thanks to Cait Driscoll’s OT winner and a regulation-time hat trick by Molly Lewis – part of the 2015 Canada Winter Games silver medallist’s tournament-high 41 points in nine games.
“I wouldn’t have been able to get the points I did without the players around me,” signals Lewis, named a tournament all-star alongside teammates Allie Marcotte, Amy Kolesnik and Natasha Hurtubise. “It’s just such a reward to have the gold after how hard we all worked this season.
“It’s just amazing. Words really can’t describe it.”
After a near-perfect 19-0-1 season playing in the Quebec Elite League and strong performances in tournaments, Nepean’s pair of 6-5 defeats in the provincials medal round meant they wouldn’t wear Team Ontario colours at nationals, but the group kept its sights on gold.
“We grew a lot from that experience,” Lewis underlines. “It definitely motivated us to work harder here at nationals, and caused us to come in a lot hungrier.”
Ice 6th, Devils 8th in NRL
The Ottawa Ice and Gloucester Devils were also part of the Canadian Championships in the National Ringette League category, placing 6th and 8th respectively with 3-4 and 1-6 records.
The Ice entered the event as defending champions, but were dealt a blow back in February when they found out starting goaltender Tori Goble wouldn’t be able to participate since she’d been selected to begin training for her desired career in the Canadian Armed Forces.
“Our backups are still great goaltenders, but they don’t quite have the same experience as our starter,” notes Ice coach Al Bateman, whose top Ontario rivals from Cambridge won the crown. “But regardless, we always strive to be the hardest team in the league to play against. The girls still went out there with that attitude, and I think they did themselves proud.”