Twin Centre Hericanes senior squad caps great season with OWHA title
THE TWIN CENTRE
HERICANES SENIOR B team won its first-ever Ontario Women’s Hockey Association gold medal to cap off a very successful season.
Their 5-3 win over Belmont in the final also ended a perfect season that saw them win the London Devilettes Senior Fall Classic and the St. Catharines Niagara Women’s Annual Tournament. The squad also took first place in SOWHL league play and won the
SOWHL league championship.
Having a season this successful is rare for any sport said, coach Doug Woodburn.
“I think sports more often has to do with constructively dealing with disappointments and failures. But the good part about that is that it helps you kind of appreciate when things go really well. This year was one of those times when everything just came up roses,” he said.
In the OWHA championship, the Hericanes received a bye to the quarterfinals after beating teams from Peterborough, Scarborough and London in pool play. The quarterfinal match-up saw the Wellesley team take revenge over Parkhill, who defeated the Hericanes in last year’s gold medal game. Falling behind early and trailing 2-1 in the second period, the team rallied with three unanswered goals to post a 4-2 win.
The semi-finals saw a matchup against the Woolwich Wild. Given that the Hericanes originally started as part of the Woolwich program in 2016, before starting their own team a year later there is a competitive rivalry, Woodburn said.
“There’s a bit of a rivalry there. Because we play each other in the league as well, I would say there’s a rivalry there,” he added.
After the Wild took a 2-0 lead, Wellesley stormed back to tie and punch their ticket to the final with a double overtime winner at 8:32 of the second extra frame.
The Hericanes got the scoring in the final against the Belmont Blazers with a short