Hockey showdown
Ghosts need overtime to dispatch Crusaders
CAMBRIDGE — Pick a sport, any sport, and there’s a distinct possibility Faith Hertner could play it well.
At the very least, she’d be willing to give it a try.
On Monday, the multi-sport athlete excelled on the ice, scoring one goal and setting up another for the Galt Ghosts in a 3-2 overtime win against the Waterloo-Oxford Crusaders at Dickson Arena.
Galt’s Ally Legault scored twice, including the three-on-three OT winner, and added an assist in the early Waterloo County (WCSSAA) showdown between two of the league’s better hockey teams. Emily Krueger and Kamryn Lamond replied for WaterlooOxford, which had opened the season with two straight wins.
Galt, a second-year team that features several girls who play ringette outside of school, improved to 2-1.
“We’ve made so much progress since the start of the season and this definitely builds our confidence,” said Hertner.
“Not all the girls on this team play hockey and you can really see their improvement, making good passes, taking shots.”
Hertner plays rep hockey for the Kitchener Rangers midgetAA team outside of school and excels at field hockey, soccer and golf. The Grade 11 student is Galt’s reigning junior athlete of the year and performed well this fall for the Ghosts golf team that reached the Central Western Ontario (CWOSSA) final.
The Ghosts’ top line of Hertner, Legault and Taylor Spurgeon has accounted for most of the scoring this season and, assuming they stay together, the three will be among the league’s top point getters.
Legault was the most dangerous player in Monday’s game and scored the OT winner on a coast-to-coast rush before rifling a shot past Crusaders’ Grade 9 goalie Kara Mark, who hadn’t allowed a goal this season until Hertner scored 64 seconds after the opening faceoff.
Of note, Hertner and Legault play for opposing teams outside of school. They were former bantam teammates in Cambridge who have gone their separate ways, with Legault now skating for the Waterloo Ravens.
“It’s already happened that we’ve played together during the day and against each other at night,” said Hertner. “It’s never feels awkward because we’re really good friends. It’s just hockey.”
Playing for the Ghosts also allows Hertner to skate on the same squad as her younger sister, Ella, who is new to high school this season. The Hertner sisters also played together on the golf team and train together at the Cambridge Golf Club.
Two of the girls that played key roles in getting Galt’s hockey program off the ground are back for their second season with the team. Lily Faragher and Morgan Pluim are given most of the credit for starting the team, which is coached by Brian Parker and Barry Kennedy, and Faragher was recognized by the YWCA earlier this year with a Young Woman of Distinction Award.
Waterloo-Oxford held a slight territorial edge but struggled to get the puck past Ghosts goalie Emily Tunnicliffe.
Caitlyn Armstrong, Jadyn Calder and Sydney Dajka were solid for the Crusaders, who lost to the Bluevale Knights in last year’s championship game and are hoping to get another shot at the title this season.
“I think we played well today, good enough to win, but we ran out of gas in overtime and they have a couple of really good players,” said Crusaders captain Val Hill. “We have a good team, we’ve all played together and know each other well. I’m sure we can get back to CWOSSA this year.”
Both teams are likely to be in the hunt for CWOSSA berths, with the Ghosts trying for the double-A event for mid-size schools and the Crusaders focused on the triple-A tournament for larger schools.
The WCSSAA girls hockey league features 10 teams this year — Bluevale, Galt, Waterloo-Oxford, KCI, Elmira, Grand River, Huron Heights, Preston, Sir John A. Macdonald and Waterloo.