Wind gets silver
Young Abram-Village-based team drops close final at Atlantic bantam AAA female championship
Young Abram-Village-based team drops close final at Atlantic bantam AAA female championship.
A youthful Western Wind team returned home with a silver medal.
The Wind, with nine rookies on their 17-player roster, dropped a heart-breaking 3-1 decision to New Brunswick’s Northern Panthers from Miramichi in the gold-medal game of the 2017 Atlantic bantam AAA female hockey championship at the Kay Arena on Sunday afternoon.
The outcome was not decided until Erica Plourde completed a hat trick into an empty net with 56 seconds remaining in regulation time.
“It was a nice tight game, and that’s all you can ask for,” said Wind assistant coach Stephen Gaudet. “We knew we were in tough, and wanted to keep it close early on.
“We killed off some penalties, and we did everything according to plan, but we just couldn’t capitalize when we had our chances.”
The Wind, which is based out of the Evangeline Recreation Centre and features players from Summerside to Tignish, completed round-robin play in the five-team tournament 3-1 (won-lost). Western clinched a berth in the championship game in dramatic fashion on Saturday afternoon.
Gracie Hackett’s goal with 43 seconds remaining in regulation time lifted the Wind into a 3-3 tie with the Panthers – a game Western would go on to win 4-3 in a shootout. Hackett’s marker secured the Wind the necessary one point they needed in the round-robin finale to set up a rematch in the final.
Evenly-matched teams
Gaudet agreed there was not a lot to choose between the Wind and Panthers. “Honestly, I did not know what to expect coming into the tournament, but I think we gave them a little bit more respect than they needed,” said Gaudet. “Once we knew we could play with them after a period or two, we were like, ‘We can beat this team.’”
In the final, the Panthers took a 1-0 lead into the second period. Belle Ashley tied the game with 11:41 to go in the middle frame, but Plourde netted what proved to be the game-winning goal a little over three minutes later to send the Panthers into the intermission up 2-1. Haley McKim was the winning goaltender, and Madison McHugh was outstanding between the pipes for the Wind.
Proud
Gaudet noted he, along with head coach Paul Campbell, assistant coach Steve Dyer and manager Robbie Gallant, are “real proud” of the Wind’s 201617 season.
“When Paul came in (the dressing room) after the game he said, ‘I’m so proud of you girls for everything you have done, and all the work you put into the preparation for this weekend especially,’” said Gaudet.
After pulling out a hardfought five-game series against the Mid-Isle Wildcats in the best-of-five provincial final, the Wind had a three-week break before the Atlantic championship.
“It was really tough to stay focused, but we practised hard and trained hard,” added Gaudet. “It stings a little bit, but we are still going home with a medal around our neck, and they all should be proud of themselves.”