By Martin Cleary
Do you remember Bobby Orr’s give-and-go overtime goal with Derek Sanderson and his flying-through-the-air finale to give the Boston Bruins a four-game sweep in the 1970 Stanley Cup finals?
How about rookie Alex Ovechkin’s famous 2006 NHL goal, while sliding on his back and having the instinct to swing his stick to push the puck into the open net against the Phoenix Coyotes?
As a ringette player, Olivia Binder would have truly appreciated those two magnificent and iconic hockey goals. Unfortunately for her, they were scored well before her time as she wasn’t born when Orr and Ovechkin performed their magic.
But Binder, who lives with her family in Richmond, ON, certainly knows a thing or two about scoring a highlight-reel goal at the most dramatic moment.
Let’s set the scene for one of the greatest goals ever scored in Canadian ringette history.
The Canadian ringette championship women’s U19 final at the Nepean Sportsplex had reached overtime between the Eastern Ontario Force and the Calgary Havoc. Danielle Falconer gave the Havoc a 2-0 lead in the second period with a pair of goals. Emily Barteaux sent the game into an extra period with a goal in each of the third and fourth period.
The Havoc took a delay of game penalty with seven seconds left in the fourth period, which carried over into the overtime and gave the Force a powerplay. But the Havoc won the overtime coin toss to gain possession of the ring, which meant they had the first opportunity to shoot, score and celebrate.
When the Force finally found a way to seize the ring, they made the most of it, moving it up the boards by the players’ benches. Poppy Leptick made a pinpoint, blind pass from mid ice to Binder, who was deep in the Havoc zone and covered by a defender.
Binder took the ring, abruptly spun to her left and darted to the net between two defenders. As she barely eluded the two Havoc players, she fell to the ice, but never took her eyes off the net. She had the wherewithal, while flat on the ice and sliding on her left side, to shoot the ring.
It was a perfect shot as the disc found the top right corner of the Havoc net. It was her first goal in her first women’s U19 Canadian championship as well as the last goal of the nationals.
A first-year U19 player at 16 years old, Binder casually stood up and was embraced by her teammates before joining the rest of team to celebrate the first national championship of the two-year-old Eastern Ontario AA Ringette Association.
“In overtime, we were all calm. We had to play smart and not take unnecessary penalties because that would cost us,” Binder said in a phone interview on Monday. “I was confident my team would be able to win.”
While Force head coach Celine Leduc rotated the lines throughout the final, Binder wasn’t sure how much ice time she would see in the sudden-death period.
After the Force’s top line battled to gain possession of the ring, Binder found herself on the ice as her teammates smartly moved the ring up the ice from the defensive zone.
“I wasn’t sure if I would play (the overtime) or not,” she highlighted. “In some situations, the coaches pick who they feel is best. I was glad I was on the ice. I went out to do my best for the team and to try hard. I’m glad they trusted me.”
In the four seconds Binder controlled the ring, that miracle moment went by extremely fast and it’s hard to remember all the details.
“I saw room to the net and I went for it. I didn’t realize I had fallen until I had watched a replay,” Binder explained. “I remember going around (the defender), seeing the corner (of the net) open and shooting. I don’t remember seeing the ring go in the net.
“I saw my teammates with their arms up in the air behind the net. We won and I was shaking. People were telling me ‘do you know what you have done?’”
Binder, a West Ottawa Wild product and a Grade 11 student at South Carleton High School, certainly knows what her precise shot accomplished for the Force, the Eastern Ontario association and the Ottawa ringette community. The Force also was the first Ottawa team to win a Canadian ringette championship since the Nepean Ravens U19 team in 2015.
“I’m so grateful. It was so exciting and so much fun. I love my whole team. We are close,” Binder said.
“I’m glad the people on the team who have not had the experience of a nationals in the past have been successful. I’m so happy we were able to win.”
After finishing 15th in its Canadian ringette championship women’s U19 debut in 2025, the Force emerged as champions one year later with eight returning players, but only one player with three years experience in the age division.
Binder started playing ringette nine years ago. She originally played hockey and enjoyed it, but wasn’t keen on the co-ed version with girls and boys on the same team.
But when she discovered ringette and that it was only for girls, she gave it a try and loved every moment.
“I loved playing on a team. I made lots of friends, which was my favourite part,” she said. “It was competitive and I love competition.”
Her ringette resume shows she has competed in three Canadian championships, including the 2024 and 2025 U16 nationals, and two Eastern Canadian championships.
Binder can now update her resume, adding she is a Canadian champion, an honour she shares with her beloved friends on the Eastern Ontario Force women’s U19 team.
Martin Cleary has written about amateur sports for over 53 years. A past Canadian sportswriter of the year and Ottawa Sports Awards Lifetime Achievement in Sport Media honouree, Martin retired from full-time work at the Ottawa Citizen in 2012, but continued to write a bi-weekly “High Achievers” column for the Citizen/Sun.
When the pandemic struck, Martin created the High Achievers “Stay-Safe Edition” to provide some positive news during tough times, via his Twitter account at first and now here at OttawaSportsPages.ca.
Martin can be reached by e-mail at martincleary51@gmail.com and on Twitter @martincleary.
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