Midget AA Wildcats take bronze in Wisconsin

It took a dramatic come-from-behind effort and three periods of overtime for the Mid Canada Wildcats to beat Winona St. Lambert Hawks and capture bronze at the Hayward, Wisconsin Invitational on the weekend.

Trailing 2-0 with 12:05 left in the game, the Wildcats battled back to even the score, setting up a thrilling overtime goal by Robin Koskela with 11 seconds left on the clock. Cassandra Bin had the only assist on the play.

Eight Under-19 Elite teams from Wisconsin, Minneapolis and Ontario, an age group older than the Wildcats, participated in the tournament.

"Bin made a great play to push the puck ahead to open ice. I knew I could get to it before the goalie. She was so far to the right, I held on to the puck, moved around her and shot it past her," said Koskela after the game.

"I had so much energy in the overtime. I wasn't tired. I kept thinking 'let me out there!' My legs felt strong. When that puck went in the net, I thought 'Finally! We did it!' It was a great feeling."

Koskela's goal came with the two teams playing 3-on-3 and avoided the next period of overtime which would have been 3-on-3 with no goalies.

"During the break between the second and third periods we told the girls to focus on playing their own game," said coach Sharon Buehner. "We'd outplayed them for two periods but Winona was working hard to throw us off our game, using tactics that didn't require much skill.

"We were taking penalties, making it difficult to focus on offense. The girls responded with poise, even after an early goal in the third put them down 2-0. They were totally prepared for that final period. I'm so proud of their determination to take the game back from St. Lambert."

Bin started "taking the game back" with a wicked blast from the point exactly one minute after Winona went up 2-0. Koskela and Bin's defense partner, Meagan Seabrook, earned assists on the play.

Two minutes later, Megan Parlowe tied the game, finishing off a nice passing play with Jenna Buck and Megan Dubas. The Wildcats dominated the play for the remainder of the game, carrying their momentum into all three overtime periods.

Mid Canada's road to the bronze medal contest included an opening 3-0 win over the Red Lake Rams. Dana Desaulnier had the shut out. Ashley Bradley, Jenna Buck and Deralise Mills each scored for the Cats. Naomi Taylor, Megan Dubas and Megan Parlowe added one assist each.

The Sault squad dropped a 2-0 decision to the Stillwater Pink Panthers in their second game. A lackluster first period and penalty trouble put the Wildcats behind 2-0 after one period of play.

A stronger effort in the second and third periods kept the Cats even with the Panthers, but they were unable to recover from the two goal deficit. Dana Desaulnier faced 20 shots between the pipes for the Wildcats.

"We'd like another crack at the Panthers," commented coach Lorie Springall. "Our first period was a little anemic. The girls weren't ready to play a tougher game. We were a step behind and it resulted in too many penalties. It took us the entire first period to wake up.

"It's tough when you don't know what to expect from teams you've never played before. I think the players learned a valuable lesson from the slow start. They finished strong and gave the Panthers a scare. That's character. There's no quit in these girls."

An added feature to the tournament included a shoot out contest. Mid Canada also finished third in this event, scoring 5 times on 12 attempts. Rookie Jenna Buck along with veterans Ashley Bradley, Megan Dubas, Julia Sayers and Megan Parlowe each scored in the shoot out.

Dana Desaulnier tied for first place in the goalie contest with the Pink Panthers, but was bumped down to second with the tie-breaker. Desaulnier stopped 11 of 12 shots.

In three short weeks the Mid Canada Wildcats will compete at the Midget AA Ontario Provincial Championships. The Ontario Women's Hockey Association hosts the event in Brampton and Mississauga April 7-10.

(Submitted by Lorie Springall)