The confidence that the girls were showing was put the test early in the first period as a West Grey Warrior forward broke in alone on goalie Macara Brooks and snuck one past in the opening minute. How would the Kinucks respond? Lesser players would have panicked and abandoned the structure and plan laid out by hockey master mind and Fisherman's Friend spokesperson Jake Gratto. But the girls rose to the challenge and took control of the game. Pressure from forwards Kennedy Urie, Morgan Talbot, Dakota Christie-Wylds, Ela 'Jonesy' Jones, Ella Gratto and Caydence Gibson slowly eroded the Warrior defence as scoring opportunities mounted. Defence pairs of Gabby 'Noodles' Legge, and Jorja Scott, and Dayle 'Chinny' Chinnick and Taylor Carney would not let the puck out of the offensive zone. For minutes on end the puck went from corner to corner as wingers Urie, Talbot, Jones, and Gibson would dig it out and look for a team mate in front of the net. A strong West Grey defence corps and some impressive saves kept the Kinucks off the score board as the first period ended.
Assistant Coach Dan Legge preached patience while Coach Gratto assured them that the goals would come. Nothing on this Earth could withstand such an assault!
True to the coaches' words, the goals came. Less than 3 minutes into the second period Urie carried the puck into the attacking zone and geared up for a shot only to lose the handle in tight. The puck slid to a trailing Christie-Wylds. A scramble in front saw the puck squirt out to Talbot who muscled the puck into the net from in tight. Goal for Talbot with assists to Urie and Christie Wylds! Kincardine continued to press as Jones had some glorious opportunities. She kept a frantic pace throughout the entire game that the opposition could not match. Shot after shot rained down on the West Grey goalie who seemed to be up to the task. It was inevitable that more scoring would come. Gibson, Jones and Gratto were just too fast and too strong. Gibson scored on passes from line-mates Jones and Gratto.
As the third period started the crowd could sense the Kinucks defence had picked up on the strongest opposition player and kept her to the outside. When she did sneak through, Macara Brooks came up huge. A fantastic blocker save on a breakaway preserved the one goal lead. A nice pass by Jorja Scott, as she broke out of the defensive end, found Gratto in the clear who wasted no time in firing a laser along the ice into the back of the net. Gibson would add another insurance goal on a pass from Gratto. West Grey did score a second goal as the period wound down, but it was too little too late.
Final score: Kinucks 4, West Grey 2.
The girls did a great job working together. Strong positional play and toughness along the boards were keys to their success. Ela Jones was given the Hard Hat for her incredible hustle and heads up play.
The girls face a tough challenge as they suit up to face TCDMH (a team that handed the Canadian Tire Kinucks one of their two losses) in Tiverton on Friday.