It was gold for three local teams at the annual Sweetheart Tournament Female Hockey Tournament held last weekend (Feb. 8 to 10) in P.E.I., hosted by the North River Minor Hockey Association.
The following was supplied by the teams.
Atom 'A'
The Atom ‘A’ Antigonish Bulldogs female team went 5-0 to capture the Sweetheart Tournament, hosted by the North River (P.E.I.) Minor Hockey Association.
The Bulldogs defeated the West Kent Blizzard from New Brunswick in the finals, 4-2, to take the title.
Offensive player of the game (POG) for Antigonish was Macy Brooks, while Ellen Brophy was defensive POG and Katie Naugle the winning goalie.
In the semi-final versus the SEFHA Stars from New Brunswick, the Bulldogs won 5-0 with offensive POG going to Sarah Wallace and defensive POG going to goaltender Adrianna Venedam who posted the shutout.
Antigonish went 3-0 on their way to the playoff round with wins over West Kent (7-3), Tyne Valley/O’Leary from P.E.I. (6-1) and Summerside by the score of 5-0.
Offensive POG versus West Kent was Kate Morrow,
defensive POG Jenna Cleary and winning goalie Naugle.
Versus Tyne Valley/O’Leary, it was Melody Tkacz earning offensive POG, Karly Boyle defensive and Venedam the winning goalie.
Against Summerside, Abby MacDonald earned offensive POG while Naugle was named defensive while posting the shutout.
Bulldog forward Morrow was named tournament most valuable player.
“We've been pushing the girls to work hard and keep improving throughout the year, and they seem up to the challenge,” coach Greg Morrow said.
“This is their third tournament win in as many tries this season, and it was a team effort throughout the line-up, with every player - from the goalies to the defence to the forwards - playing extremely well.”
The coach said it’s a good confidence boost going into league playoffs.
“Which we’re hosting in Antigonish March 8 to10,” he said. “The girls are learning they’re tough to beat when they’re all skating hard both ways, moving the puck and playing good, solid positional hockey.”
“Our regular season and tournaments are over so, now, we turn our attention to playoffs. We’ll keep working hard with practices and some exhibition games until then. We hope to have a lot of support at the [Antigonish] Arena; it should be an exciting weekend of female hockey with some very good teams competing for the league title, and the right to represent the North Conference at Day of Champions, in Truro, in April.”
Fundy Highland Selects
Olivia Fitt scored the shootout winning goal as the Fundy Highland Subway Selects edged the Moncton Rockets, 2-1, to win the Bantam ‘AAA’ division at the 13th annual Sweetheart Tournament, hosted by North River (P.E.I.) Minor Hockey Association, over the Feb. 8 to 10 weekend.
Mairead MacPherson scored the lone Select goal, on a power play, in regulation time.
The Selects swept through the round robin portion of the tournament with a perfect 3-0 record.
Game one saw the Selects blank Central Storm of P.E.I. 3-0. Baillie Griffon led the way offensively with a goal and an assist. Julia MacDonald and Maddie Beson added single markers.
Game two saw Fitt score both goals in 2-0 win over Mid Isle Wildcats, also from P.E.I.
Willa Evans and Beson provided assists.
In their third game, the Selects received goals from Beson and Jaylen Langille in a 2-1 win over the Western Wind of P.E.I. Megan Smith provided an assist.
In semi-final action, Evans scored the lone goal of the game in the third period as the Selects edged Western Wind 1-0. Fitt and Langille provided assists.
Goaltender Gabby Arsenault recorded all five wins while impressively posting three shutouts. Fitt was named tournament most valuable player.
Pee Wee 'A'