Win or lose in the very last game of the Snowflake Challenge late Sunday afternoon at the Gerry McCrory Sports Complex, the Mattice Ice Cats were in for a long drive back home.
Winning just made it seem not nearly as long.
The U18 girls house league team centered in the township located some twenty miles east of Hearst but drawing on several villages and outposts scattered along Highway 11, with players spread between Cochrane and Hornepayne, easily travelled the furthest of any entry to attend the local tournament.
They also left with a smile after Maude St Laurent snapped a scoreless tie with a second period goal, banging home a rebound of a point blast from Terra Dasti. Eva Lagacé added a late insurance marker and goaltender Mae Breton turned aside 15 shots as Mattice blanked Sudbury Green 2-0 in their divisional final.
“Winning in the final, that’s nice – but as long as we all had fun together, learned to play together and learned some skills throughout the tournament, that was good,” noted 16 year-old defenceman Sophie Chabot, explaining that their first game on Friday was actually the very first time that this roster had taken to the ice together as a team.
“We did not have a girls team (U18) in Hearst and we wanted to go do a couple of tournaments,” said Chabot. “We asked a few people and took all of the people who said yes and made a team with them.”
Surrendering just a single goal over the course of their six games, the Ice Cats did not need to rely on an explosive offensive output in order to work their way through to a title, a definite source of pride for the grade 11 student at Ecole secondaire catholique de Hearst and her compatriots on the blueline brigade.
“I need to check in front of our net and blocks a lot of shots – I’m not afraid to do that – but our goalie is good,” said Chabot. That said, the same held true at the other end of the rink in the championship encounter.
“Their goalie is very good so we had to take a lot of shots on goal and get some rebounds,” Chabot continued. “We had to take our time with the puck and not just throw it everywhere.”
If Monday is a rest day for all those involved with the Mattice Ice Cats squad, the same held true for Sudbury & District Girls Hockey Association house league coach Ryan Forigo, the man who was behind the bench for a pair of gold medal victories on Sunday.
Leading an impressive Sudbury U13 Green crew to a 6-0 win over the SDGHA White reps followed by a much closer 2-1 squeaker for the U15 Green squad opposite the Temiskaming Shores Brownlee Equipment Puckhounds wrapped up a very busy weekend for the gentleman who has been involved with his daughters’ hockey for the past five to six years – and honestly wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I really enjoy doing this – it’s an absolute pleasure and an honour,” said Forigo, who will sometimes start the season as head coach (because he has the necessary accreditation) but then guide and mentor new coaching volunteers, handing over the reins as head coach and remaining aboard to assist in any way needed as more and more folks are added to the pool of people who can help out with youth girls hockey.
These days, Forigo has noted a difference in his dealings with the two SDGHA Green entries.
“In U13, you are still getting the bright-eyed kids who are so full of energy and ready to go,” he noted. “By U15, the lifestyles change with the requirements that are cast on them with high-school, work and the pressures of being a young adult.”
Two goal performances by both Mila Roy and Julia Forigo (who also celebrated her birthday on Sunday) helped propel the younger group to the U13 title, with Olivia Fournier and Mackenzie Ewers rounding out the scoring for the local girls who also claimed the North Bay Tournament banner in November.
The U15 final was tied at one heading to the third after Rya Aubertin (Sudbury) and Clara Davies (Puckhounds) traded goals, with Taylor Peltier burying the game-winner early in the third.
In fourth place following the preliminary games, Temiskaming advanced to the finals thanks to a 2-1 upset of Sudbury Red, all of which came as little surprise to the man who has coached his team through no less than six meetings this winter already with the Tri-Towns folks.
“We really respect that Temiskaming team,” said Forigo. “They are true competitors. They are very tough to play against – and they are a very classy hockey team.”
“It makes for a really fun matchup.”
The remaining showdown was easily the most dramatic as Sault Ste Marie Atomic Red edged the Timmins Ravens 2-1, in a shootout, to earn U11 divisional bragging rights. Kate Moggy opened the scoring for the winners with a first period tally, a goal that looked like it was likely to stand until Adalynn Presseault forced overtime, evening the score with 1:13 showing on the clock.
Overtime did not produce a winner setting the stage for a penalty shot snipe from Danielle Vilaca (SSM) as the Ravens did a great job slowing down an Atomic Red offense that had piled up the goals to that point.
