It was a Wildcat weekend

SooToday received the following releases from a pair of Sault Wildcats teams that has strong showings in tournament action over the weekend.

The Silver Creek Golf Course Wildcats returned home from the St. Thomas Panthers on the Prowl Tournament this past weekend in Novice “B” action.  

The Baby Cats opened day one with a 4-2 win over the Sarnia Lady Sting, Kylie Schryer (one goal, one assist) and Addison Hopkins found the back of the net with Maiana Boissoneau (two goals, one assist) with goals. Martina Pucci, Annkia Babineau, Lauren Dickie and Ava Sewell chipped in with assists.

In the their second game the Wildcats came up short  in a extremely hard fought battle, losing 1-0 to the North Halton Twisters.

The Cats came back strong with a victory over the North York Storm where each girl recorded at least a point. Pucci, Schryer, Boissoneau, Babineau led the way, while Molly Watson and Madisyn Syrette had multi-point games. Goaltender Sara Boston earned a shutout.

Saturday night the Cats faced off against the Kitchener Lady Rangers coming out on top scoring 5 and not allowing a goal.

Sewell had two goals with Alexis Olar, Boissoneau (one goal, two assists) and Hopkins also scoring. Mikayla Krezek, Babineau and Pucci added helpers. Rookie goaltender Kaia Boissoneau saw some third period action aiding Boston in her second shutout.

With the 3-1 record the Wildcats advanced to the final to face the North Halton Twisters. It took three periods and an overtime to decide the outcome. The Twisters were able to once again edge out the Wildcats from Sault Ste Marie.

Congratulations on the silver medal girls and an excellent weekend of hockey.

The Wildcats opened the tournament by out shooting the Clarington Flames 23-8 but settled for a 0-0 tie behind the shutout net minding of Gabby Bernardo.

The second game of the round robin saw the Soo take on the home town Whitby Wolves. Third period goals by Abbi Benka and Amber Dunbar helped the Wildcats overcome a 1-0 deficit to beat the Wolves 2-1. Bernardo had the victory in net.

In game three, the Wildcats dominated play and outshot the Markham-Stouffville Stars 19-5 but were held scoreless in another 0-0 tie. Isabelle Deady-Bell had the shutout for the Wildcats.

In the final round robin game, the Wildcats offence exploded for an 8-2 victory over the Burlington Barricudas. Sophie Thibault, Brianna Barban and Luca Rebek led the way with two goals apiece while Jen Allick and Benka rounded out the scoring.  Deady-Bell had the victory in net.

In the semi-finals, Bernardo notched her second shut-out of the tournament leading the Wildcats to a 3-0 victory over the Durham West Lightning. Sophie Grawbarger, Mikalya Sewell and Rebek scored for the Wildcats.  

The finals were a rematch of an earlier round robin game and pitted the Wildcats up against the Whitby Wolves.  

"These teams are starting to know each other. We'd played them twice before and we had a solid game plan going in," said Caruso.  

The Wolves took a 2-0 lead mid-way through the second before the Wildcats netted back to back power play goals to tie the game. The game remained tied until mid-way through the third when Abbi Benka scored the eventual championship-winner with a slapshot from the top of the circle.  Kira Tangie sealed the win with an empty-net goal in the final minute of play. Bernardo had the victory in net.

"Our goals were simple. We entered the tournament as the top ranked Peewee 'A' team in the province and we wanted to stay there. The coaching staff (Jeremy Rebek and Cait Cress, assistant coaches) and I knew we needed to have players step up and fill the hole in the lineup as a result of Colizza's injury. Kendall Boissoneau moved up to play forward and it allowed us to stay with our game plan. We got well balanced scoring from all three lines. Our defence shut down some pretty strong forwards and our goaltenders were solid."

The Wildcats have now won back to back Gold medals and their tournament record stands at 10-0-2.  Next tournament action is the Cambridge New Years Challenge Cup in January.

*************************