On Sunday afternoon, the B-W Feed & Seed/Stitch Graphix Wolverines finished off a solid weekend of tournament play and claimed a well deserved gold medal at the 32nd Annual Walter Gretzky Tournament.
In their first match up of the tournament, the Wolverines faced the Cambridge Roadrunners. Cambridge was looking for redemption after falling to the Wolverines twice in February in OWHA provincial playdown play. However, they were quickly denied when the Wolverines shut them down with a final score of 3-0. Madison McCormick earned the MVP of the game for the Wolverines for her solid contributions on defence. In their second game, the Wolverines took on the St. Mary's Rock. While the Wolverines were slow to get on the scoreboard, the Rock were not able to penetrate the solid lineup of defence Madison Oliver, Kara Cook, Marley O'Connell, Kayla Schenk, and McCormick. Meghan Young would get the only goal of the game giving the Wolverines a 1-0 victory. Emily Hussey earned the MVP of the game for her constant hussle on offence, and strong support on the back-check. Saturday morning would see the Wolverines facing the Ancaster Avalanche for the first time this season. The powerhouse offensive lineup of Taryn McIntyre, Julia Kehl and Hailey Scott were unstoppable. McIntyre would earn the game MVP as she lead the Wolverines' attack on the Avalanche earning 2 goals and an assist. Julia Kehl earrned the Wolverines' third goal of the game, showing her consistent contribution to the team's success. Jenna Kumpf with a helper from Scott would finish off the scoring in the 4-0 victory over the Avalanche. Closing out their round robin play, the Wolverines played the North York Storm Sunday morning. After a busy week of hockey, the Wolverine's fatigue was beginning to show and the girls struggled to get their game going. Paige Carter, returning to play after falling ill on Friday showed she was back on her feet and displayed her valued spirited offence. In the end, the Wolverines were able to diffuse the Storm and earn a 2-0 victory to head to the finals. In her fourth shut out of the tournament, Gillian Knarr's solid goaltending earned her the MVP of the game for the Wolverines.
In the championship game, the Wolverines would once again face the St. Mary's Storm. Looking to hold on to their perfect record in the tournament, the Wolverines took command of the game from the onset. In a game that would see more penalties than the Wolverines are familiar with, it was evident both teams were hungry to win the championship. Young earned the MVP of the game for the Wolverines when she put the Wolverines on the scoreboard in the first, and added a second in the second period. In the final seconds of the second period, Lauren Bast set up Kumpf on the third goal to close out the scoring for the remainder of the game. Due to solid team play, the Wolverines were a defensive force to be reckoned with and closed out their championship win allowing no goals against them in the tournament.
The Wolverines hope to maintain this positive momentum as they hit the ice again this week facing off against the Stratford Aces in the second round of LLFHL playoffs. The Wolverines had defeated the Belmont Blazers earlier in the month to win their first round of league playoffs. Good luck Wolverines!!!