Midget AA Wildcats come up short at provincials

They played their hearts out this past weekend at the Ontario Provincial Championships but the Mid Canada Wildcats couldn't match the performance of their opponents in the final tournament of the season.

The Cats lost 6-1 to the Toronto Aeros, 4-1 to Willowdale and 3-1 to Perth in the Midget 'AA' division.

"We've come a long way since the start of the year," said veteran forward and captain, Megan Dubas. "We have a lot of young players on our team and I think they did a good job, playing 'AA' hockey for the first time ever. It's disappointing not to win more games but I thought we did alright this year, especially since the players we played against have played 'AA' hockey longer than most of us have."

The Wildcats opened the tournament against last year's gold medalists, the Toronto Aeros. Sault Ste Marie product, Erica Bridgewater, plays goalie for the Aeros team, who eventually went on to repeat as this year's gold medalists, allowing only three goals all weekend.

Mid Canada's Julia Sayers netted one of those goals, spoiling Bridgewater's shut out with 34 seconds left to play in the second frame, narrowing the score to 4-1. Ashley Bradley had the only assist. The Aeros responded with two power play goals in the final two minutes of the game.

Mid Canada put in two decent efforts against Willowdale and Perth but were unable to put together a solid attack against two very beatable teams.

"Ironically, we had more offensive chances against the mighty Aeros than we did against the other two teams," said coach Sharon Buehner. "Our best game of the tournament turned out to be against the best team."

Assistant coach, Lorie Springall added "The effort was there in all three games but the rewards weren't. We lost to a better team in our first game, but it's tough to lose against teams you know you can beat. When the puck doesn't bounce your way and the calls aren't in your favour, it's frustrating.

"I thought our players did a good job of staying focused. Our veteran players showed great leadership. We've had better results with the same effort in the past. That's the way it goes sometimes."

Deralise Mills scored the only goal in the 4-1 loss to Willowdale. Once again Ashley Bradley had the only assist.

In the 3-1 loss to Perth, the Wildcats gave up two goals in the first period before Jenna Buck scored in the second. Buck made a great play to tip a blast from the point off the stick of Naomi Taylor. Taylor's shot came after a nice feed from Megan Dubas with 46 seconds left on the clock.

Seven players graduate from this year's team. Defence partners, Meagan Seabrook and Cassandra Bin, along with forwards Coco Mancuso, Robin Koskela, Ashley Bradley, Julia Sayers and Megan Dubas all played their final Midget games on the weekend.

There were a lot of emotions in the dressing room after the last game.

"It was a sad feeling when that final buzzer went, said captain Dubas. "We've had a lot of fun this year. It's sad to know it's over. This was a great bunch to play with."

Seabrook, Bin and Koskela will likely stay in the Sault area. "It's been good," said Seabrook, referring to this past season. "I'm not sure what the future holds. Maybe there'll be an Intermediate team next year. I guess we'll wait and see."

Mancuso is off to the University of New Brunswick next season. Bradley and Sayers will be in Sudbury as Bradley attends Laurentien University and Sayers attends Cambrian College. Both expect to play on Sudbury club teams as Sudbury does not have a varsity team.

Dubas has been accepted at Humber, Guelph and Windsor University. She will likely attend Windsor where she hopes to earn a spot on the varsity squad.

The Mid Canada Wildcats will attend this Wednesday's year-end banquet at the Marconi Club where they'll celebrate the season with fellow Peewee and Bantam Wildcats.

The Peewees captured the Provincial Gold Medal in the 'B' division this past weekend while the Bantam Wildcats brought home bronze from the 'BB' division.

The Midget 'AA' Wildcats accomplishments this year include:

GOLD - North Bay Blue Sky Classic SILVER - Sault Ste Marie Ice Breaker Cup BRONZE - Wisconsin Fire on Ice

The 2005-2006 Mid Canada Construction Wildcats include:

Goalies: Dana Desaulnier and Stephanie Graham

Defence: Meagan Seabrook, Cassandra Bin, Naomi Taylor, Deralise Mills and Andrea Brunetta

Forwards: Coco Mancuso, Robin Koskela, Julia Sayers, Megan Dubas, Ashley Bradley, Megan Parlowe, Jenna Buck, Kayla Leishman and Laura Duguay.

Congratulations to all the players and a huge thanks to the parents and sponsors!

(Submitted by Lorie Springall)