Mid Canada Wildcats win gold in North Bay

The Mid Canada Construction Midget 'AA' Wildcats brought home the gold from the North Bay Blue Sky Classic Tournament on the weekend, following up last weekend's silver medal performance at their own Ice Breaker Cup tournament.

In another thrilling final, the Wildcats held off the Sudbury Lady Wolves to win the championship game 2-1.

Sault Ste Marie's goalie, Dana Desaulnier, stood on her head once again to keep the Lady Wolves at bay, especially in the final two minutes of the third period with Sudbury's goalie pulled and the Wildcats playing short-handed. Her shut out bid was snapped with 1:28 remaining.

The Wolves pressed hard to even the score, playing 6 on 4 for the remainder of the game, but the penalty-killing unit and Desaulnier's solid play held on to win the championship.

The game had the same nail-biting, edge-of-your seat finish as last week's overtime marathon against Marquette. However, this one had a much happier ending for the Wildcats.

When asked how she felt about her team's performance, head coach Sharon Buehner commented, "Are you kidding me? It's been a wild 10 days for these girls. They've played 10 games in 10 days including an overtime thriller last weekend and they're walking out of the rink with two medals – gold and silver. Not bad at all. The coaching staff is extremely proud of them."

Assistant Coach, Lorie Springall added that one of the keys to winning against Sudbury was shutting down their top scorer, Kathryn Corbiere.

"This kid has the ability to control the game. She's smart, an excellent skater, play-maker and shooter. We had players assigned to shut her down at every opportunity and they did it so well, she became a non-factor."

Sault Ste Marie's line of Megan Dubas, Julia Sayers and rookie Kayla Leishman connected for both goals in the win. Captain Dubas scored once and set up Leishman's winning goal, while Sayers assisted on both goals.

"It was fitting to see them each contribute in such a big way with so much on the line," said Springall. "They struggled earlier in the tournament with Leishman and Sayers both fighting off colds and unable to play at the top of their game."

"This tournament win was a total team effort," said Buehner. "Every one of the players stepped up when they had to this weekend. If a player was sick or hurt, the others filled the void. Our veterans made big plays in huge pressure situations and our rookies played like veterans. It's great to see them rewarded for their hard work."

In preliminary action, Mid Canada lost to the same Sudbury team 4-2 but a 3-3 tie with Orangeville coupled with a 3-1 win against Ottawa and a convincing 7-1 spanking of North Bay gave them a second-place finish and underdog status for the final game.

In the tournament opener, Mid Canada and Ottawa battled through two strong periods of defensive hockey before the Sault's Kayla Leishman roofed the game-breaker with 6:36 left in the game.

The goal gave the Wildcats a 2-1 lead after an Ashley Bradley marker in the first period. Naomi Taylor sealed the win with 4:07 remaining in the third, finishing off a pretty passing play from Deralise Mills and Coco Mancuso. Megan Dubas had the only assist on Bradley's goal.

Ashley Bradley's hot hands carried over to the Wildcats' 3-3 tie with Orangeville. Bradley scored twice and set up Naomi Taylor as the Wildcats outshot Orangeville 30-16. Megan Parlowe also had one assist.

Bradley's second goal of the game put the Sault squad up 3-2 early in the third but Orangeville notched the score at 3-3 with just over 8 minutes remaining.

The tie earned rookie goalie Stefanie Graham her first point of the season for the Mid Canada Wildcats.

In the 7-1 win against North Bay, the Wildcats fell behind 1-0 early in the first period, but responded with 7 unanswered goals on route to their biggest win of the season.

Sault Ste Marie's Coco Mancuso racked up four points in the drubbing. Mancuso scored once and had three assists while Megan Parlowe had a goal and two assists. Laura Duguay, Ashley Bradley, Deralise Mills, Andrea Brunetta and Julia Sayers each scored one goal while Robin Koskela had two assists. Single assists went to Bradley, Jenna Buck and Naomi Taylor.

Megan Dubas had both Wildcats goals in the 4-2 loss to Sudbury. Sayers and Ashley Bradley each had one assist in the game. Mid Canada's Stefanie Graham faced 25 shots while Sault Ste Marie fired 18 on Sudbury.

The Mid Canada Wildcats head off to Kitchener November 25-27 for the Kitchener Lady Rangers Invitational.

(Submitted by Lorie Springall.)