Sault Ice Hawks unbeaten after 10 games

NEWS RELEASE
SAULT ICE HAWKS
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The U12A Sault Ice Hawks from the Sault Ringette Club just returned from the Ajax Pickering Ringette Tournament this weekend, once again sporting gold. This makes it back-to-back tournament championships for the team, who has started their tournament season with a perfect 10-0 record.

The Ice Hawks kicked off the tournament Friday morning facing the Waterloo Fire, but it was the Sault team who got off to a hot start scoring 35 seconds into the game. The girls wouldn’t look back, and any pre-tournament jitters quickly evaporated as they skated to a 7-1 win. Their evening match-up saw them take on the Barrie Blast, who might quickly become their biggest rival this season. The two teams clashed earlier this year in Sudbury, with the Ice Hawks winning both games. Once again the Ice Hawks started quickly, scoring just nine seconds into the game, but Barrie fought back. The two teams traded goals back and forth throughout the first period, with the Sault taking a 6-5 lead into the second. The Sault’s team play and skating eventually wore the Barrie team down, and they came away with the 10-7 victory heading into their Saturday games.

Saturday morning saw the Ice Hawks take on the unmatched Markham Bears, with Sault’s team play, speed, and size icing the Bears 13-0. Saturday’s afternoon game against the Nepean Ravens would be to decide who would finish first in round-robin play. After a hard-fought first period, the Ice Hawks took a 2-0 lead into the second. As has become a trend, the Sault’s consistent pressure would wear the Ravens down, with the Ice Hawks taking the 7-0 victory and the bye to the championship game.

The Ice Hawks wouldn’t know who their opponent would be until after the morning semi-final between Barrie and Waterloo, which the Blast ended up winning 8-7. The girls from the Sault knew Barrie would be looking for payback for their earlier loss and that they would be coming at them strong. Strong may have even been an understatement as Barrie rocketed off to a 2-0 lead just 34 seconds into the game. This is only the second time the Sault team trailed this tournament and only the first time they’ve been behind in any game this season by more than one goal. The Ice Hawks regrouped and came back strong, scoring five unanswered goals and having the first-period end with a 6-3 score. Barrie continued to claw back at the lead, getting the game to 6-5 with just over five minutes remaining and then 7-6 with 2:25 left on the clock. The Sault girls held strong, scoring two more goals in the final two minutes to take the 9-6 win!

The U12A Sault Ice Hawks are comprised of Brooklyn Adams, Erika Bernardo, Maelle Brown, Mikayla Farelli, Emma Farenzena, Jessica Fasanello, Avery Fierro-Wood, Cameron Galizia, Alyvia Hull, Makensy Jarrell, Arianna Nowitski, Gabriella Nowitski, Reese O’Neil, Mya Sloss, Sarah Sonoc and Leah Vaughan. In this tournament, they were supported by Chelsea Clingen (head coach), Gabrielle Baril, Brad Nowitski, Curt O’Neil, Gannon Vaughan (assistant coaches), Matt Jarrell (skating coach), Brigitte Vaughan (trainer), and Tammy Bernardo (manager) as well as many parents, siblings and family members.

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