The Kincardine West Shore Bantam Girls have successfully completed the first round of competition in the quest for a place in the Provincials, coming first in their division by winning all three games played.
Kincardine’s first game was against Walkerton on February 4th. The game was a close one with the West Shore girls winning 1-0 on a goal by Morgan Padfield from Hayley Stewart and Madison McFadden.
Game 2 on February 9th saw the Kincardine squad face off against Saugeen Shores. West Shore played extremely well, winning 3-0 and Kortney Watson earned her second shutout of the series. Erica Gade scored the first goal of the night from Kristen Derksen and Jordan Murchie and the Padfield/Stewart/McFadden line contributed the final two points.
The Bantams traveled to Markdale on February 11th for the final game, achieving a 4-2 victory. Markdale got off to an early lead midway through the first period. This woke up the Kincardine crew, and defencemen Emily Elphick, Kristy Parsons, Erica Gade and Dayle Smith worked with netminder Watson to keep Markdale off the scoreboard for the remainder of the first and second periods. Kincardine dominated the third period. Kristen Derksen scored the first goal with Dani Watterworth and Stewart earning assists. Kincardine pulled into the lead on an unassisted marker by Stewart. At this point, Markdale appeared to become frustrated and suffered a long string of penalties. Kincardine took advantage of the numerous power plays to increase their lead, with Derksen and Courtney Surridge scoring. With just 4 seconds remaining, Markdale managed to jam in the puck during a goal crease scramble, but Kincardine took the win, 4-2.
The West Shore Bantam girls travel to Trenton for the International Silver Stick February 13-15, and will return home to advance to the second round of Provincial playdowns where they will face the second place team in the southern loop in a best of three series to determine who will earn a place in the April Provincial Championship.
Submitted by: Leslie Parsons