Wildcats ready to pounce on provincial gold

The UBetcha Wildcats feel they have the type of team that can contend for a women's hockey provincial championship.

The Senior AA Wildcats now get their chance to shine as the team readies for the Provincial Championships beginning on Friday at the South Fletcher Sportsplex in Brampton.

The top two teams from the tournament will advance to the Central Canadian Championship in Montreal in April.

The Wildcats won three championships in four tournament appearances and compiled a 19-1-3 record overall.

That kind of success has Wildcats head coach Craig Coletti excited about his team's chances for an Ontario title.

"From what we've seen at the tournaments this season I do feel pretty confident," said Coletti.

"We have a good core of players this year and they have shown that they have what it takes to win. I like where we're at but there is always room for improvement and that's what we've been working on the past few weeks."

Despite a long layoff since the team's last tournament appearance in Newtonbrook one month ago, Coletti feels the break has been beneficial to the team's preparations.

"It's good that we had this layoff. We have a short bench to begin with and we had some injuries to heal. I think we have really picked thing up the last couple of weeks and everything is coming together well. We are realizing what it is going to take to win this weekend," said Coletti.

"We're an offensive team but we like to play our systems. We have a very aggressive forecheck and our speed is one of our biggest assets. We've played well defensively and our goaltending have definitely been one of our strengths."

The Wildcats will look for big performances from the likes of team leader Shannon Mashinter, Erica Avery, Lorie Springall, Melissa Holder. Kim Raymond and Deanna Boissoneau anchor the team in goal.

UBetcha opens on Friday at 3:45 p.m. against the London Aces before meeting the Oshawa Chinooks at 10:15 p.m. The Wildcats conclude round robin play on Saturday at 2:45 p.m. against the St. Catharines Jets.

Quarterfinal games will be held Saturday night with the semi-finals and finals scheduled for Sunday.