Tornadoes Strike in Nepean!!

The U16A Tornadoes played in a competitive pool of teams and dominated the weekend; going undefeated throughout round robin play with a 4-0 record, and outscoring their competition 29-7. Anxious to get going on Friday, the Tornadoes took on Upper Ottawa Valley. This first challenge proved to be a hard-fought contest that showcased back and forth action and strong goaltending on both sides. Both teams exchanged goals early on, but Timmins pulled away with three big goals in the second period and prevailed 4-2. Next came West Ottawa. Pumped from their previous victory, the Timmins squad scored early and often and cruised to a 9-2 win. The second day began with a faceoff against the Metcalfe team. It took a while for the Tornadoes to find their legs, but perseverance paid off as the team exploded with 6 first period goals in an eventual 8-2 triumph. Later that day, the U16A team played their final round robin game against Nepean. The team kept plowing through its competition and used a strong second period and strong defence to win convincingly, 8-1. The win meant a first place finish in round robin play and an advantageous matchup in the semi-final game on Sunday morning. However, the win proved costly as the Timmins squad lost a key player to injury. With an already short bench, the Tornadoes found themselves playing the rest of the tournament with only 9 skaters. The semi-final proved to be a meaningful battle of the “North” as Timmins found themselves playing their rivals from North Bay. As usual, the game didn’t disappoint. Both teams displayed amazing defensive play and goaltending. The Tornadoes were able to capitalize on their few good scoring chances and managed to win the game 3-0. Goalie Katie Page was outstanding in this game and all weekend. The win meant that Timmins would play in the Finals for a chance to secure a Gold medal. There they played the strong entry known as the City of Ottawa. The game was hard fought and highly competitive as evidenced by the numerous amount of penalties incurred on both sides. By the beginning of the second period, Timmins had accumulated a 3-0 lead on goals by Sierra Landry, Marie-Pier Durepos-Létourneau, and Marguerite Bourdages-Côté . But the Ottawa team refused to quit and roared back with two quick goals to make it 3-2. The Tornadoes re-grouped despite the teams tired legs from having a short bench, and scored late on goals by Sierra Landry and Marguerite Bourdages-Côté. Goalie Katie Page withstood a barrage of shots in the dying moments of the game to preserve a 5-3 win and a well deserved Gold medal. Not only did the Tornadoes win the tournament, but they also earned the respect from their opponents with Coaches from both North Bay and the City of Ottawa commenting on how impressed they were with the grit and stamina displayed by the Timmins athletes.

Coach Eric Létourneau credited his Team’s triumph to the player’s collective relentless forechecking, and strong offensive instincts from players such as Jessica Boileau, Caelen Easton, Sierra Landry and Danika Ratte. He further credited the two way play of the team’s strong centers, Marguerite Bourdages-Côté and Marie-Pier Durepos-Létourneau. Coach Létourneau added that the Tornadoe’s outstanding defensive play was led by Tessa Desjardins, Karine Harvey, Madison Séguin and Sam Stewart. As noted, Katie Page provided outstanding goaltending throughout the tournament. Very much a team player, goalie Kyara Breton, made the long trip to Ottawa to support her teammates even though she was injured. The coaching staff is very proud of this group of exceptional young athletes.

U16A Team - Sitting on the floor (left to right): Kyara Breton, Katie Page Front row (left to right): Marie-Pier Durepos-Létourneau, Tessa Desjardins, Danika Ratte, Sam Stewart, Sierra Landry, Karine Harvey, Madison Séguin, Jess Boileau, Marguerite Bourdages-Côté, trainer Sue Boileau. Back row (left to right): Coach Éric Létourneau, Assistant coach Rémi Harvey, Manager Chrystal Landry, assistant coach Marty Stewart Missing from the picture: Caelen

The U14A Timmins Tornadoes also played 4 round robin games this weekend, and dominated with a 4-0 record and by outscoring its opposition 21-6. The opening game was against the host Nepean Ravens on Friday and the Tornadoes came out flying in skating to a convincing 8-1 victory. Of note, this game represented the first taste of competitive Ringette for new comers Adison Roberge and Karine Bolduc. Both played extremely well and Karine did some damage on the scoresheet with two goals and two assists. Starting goalie Gabby Brazeau kicked aside all but one of the shots that the Nepean team fired at her. Game two followed that evening against West Ottawa and featured goalie Jo-Anne Vane making her U14A debut between the pipes. The team played great together and their confidence only grew in winning 5-1. The defence played extremely well, and teamwork and strong forechecking limited the amount of quality scoring chances on their goalie. In this game, all the offence was supplied by Keenyah Murray, Maria Aide Rios and Ella McCarty. Amaya Come and Talia Rivard were the play makers for the game; each chipping in with two assists. The third game was played on Saturday morning and was against Gloucester Cumberland; a team that is always tough to play against. The game was tight checking throughout with outstanding goaltending on both sides. Neither team could afford to make any mistakes, but the Tornadoes found a way to outwork their opponent and squeak out a well deserved 2-1 win. Maria Aide Rios scored the first goal and the game winner came off the stick of Karine Bolduc. Goalie Gabby Brazeau was again stellar in net to preserve the win. The final round robin game was against the equally undefeated team from Metcalfe. It was another close nail-biter until the Tornadoes were able to pull away halfway through the final period, and winning 6-3. The scoring was spread out with Maria Aide Rios getting two goals and Keenyah Murray, Ella McCarty, Camryn Hyde and Ella Brumwell adding a goal each. Lauren Bonsall played her best game adding three assists. The win gave the team the top seed heading into the semi finals on Sunday morning. The semi-final setup a rematch with West Ottawa on Sunday. The teams Coaches worked hard to prepare the girls for what they already knew was a worthy opponent. The Ottawa team had made adjustments since the first meeting and was much tougher to play against this time around. The Tornadoes worked hard and were able to use two second period goals to triumph 3-1. Once again, goalie Jo-Anne Vane was tough to beat and the Tornadoes defensive triangle anchored by Zoe Brazeau, Ella Brumwell, Isobella Beatty-Peters and Talia Rivard was near perfect in holding Ottawa to just the single goal. The scoring was done by Keenyah Murray, Maria Aide Rios and Camryn Hyde. The win set up another rematch in the Final against Gloucester Cumberland.

The final game was another closely fought match among two worthy opponents. Gloucester opened the scoring with the only goal of the first period, after getting one by a screened Gaby Brazeau. In the second period, Keenyah Murray electrified her teammates and the team supporters by scoring the equalizer with a perfect shot. The joy proved to be short lived, however, as Gloucester came back and scored again on the very next shift. With the team down by a goal late, Timmins began taking some risks in the offensive zone in trying to secure the equalizer. This led to a defensive breakdown and allowing Gloucester to score their final goal to secure a 3-1 win and the Gold.

Coach Trevor Vane remarked about how both games against Gloucester were amazing to watch from a fan standpoint and how they were good benchmarks for the team to build on as it works to ready itself for the next Tournament. He added that he and his coaching staff were very proud of the well earned silver medals that the Tornadoes were taking home.

The U12 Provincial Petite team also had a great weekend, even though they did not medal. The team is quite young so the goal is to bond and build towards the Provincial tournament in the spring of 2020. The Tornadoes completed the round robin portion of the weekend with a record of 1-3, but the team played hard for each other and had fun. Goalie, Christelle Berthier, played strong all weekend and did her part to keep her team in the games. The team lost their first game 8-2, but came back in the next game with a strong team effort in winning 4-3. On Saturday, the Tornadoes lost both games.  The team had many different scorers throughout the weekend, as everyone finished with at least a goal or an assist

The Tornadoes next collective tournament will be in early January 2020, when they travel to play in Whitby.