Golden smiles: Another tournament, another title for Hawks

The Sault Ringette Club U12A Ice Hawks picked up in 2023 where they left off in 2022, winning another tournament championship.

The Hawks collected their third title and ran their record to 16-0 by claiming the WRA crown in Whitby.

They started off the tournament buzzing on Friday with an 8-1 win over the Metcalfe Hornets and a 12-2 win over the Sunderland Stingerz. The Sault team was able to continue this strong start into Saturday where even the weather couldn’t stop them picking up a 7-3 victory over the Timmins Tornadoes and finishing off the round-robin with the 10-3 win against the Richmond Hill Lightning.

The perfect record gave them the top seed for the semifinals where they faced off against Metcalfe, looking for revenge for their earlier loss. Metcalfe started with a quick goal but the Hawks fought back and finished the first period with a one goal lead at 3-2. They played a strong second period and skated away with the 6-3 victory. The other semifinal saw the Forest eXtreme defeat the Barrie Blast 13-7.

The finals produced an exciting game of back-and-forth action between two closely matched opponents. The Sault got off to a quick two-goal lead but the eXtreme battled back tying it up at 2. The first period ended with a 5-3 lead for the Ice Hawks. The eXtreme didn’t let up but the girls from the Sault held strong and continually countered any attacks and finished the game with the 7-4 victory.

The Sault Ice Hawks next action will see them heading south once again to compete in the GRA Tournament in Guelph Feb. 10-12.

The Ice Hawks for this tournament were comprised of Brooklyn Adams, Erika Bernardo, Maelle Brown, Mikayla Farelli, Jessica Fasanello, Avery Fierro-Wood, Cameron Galizia, Alyvia Hull, Makensy Jarrell, Arianna Nowitski, Gabriella Nowitski, Reese O’Neil, Madison Selig, Mya Sloss, Sarah Sonoc and Leah Vaughan. On this tournament they were supported by Chelsea Clingen (head coach), Gabrielle Baril, Marley Coccimiglio, Brad Nowitski, Curt O’Neil, Gannon Vaughan (assistant coaches), Matt Jarrell (skating coach), Brigitte Vaughan (trainer), and Tammy Bernardo (manager).