First year Atom player Alisha Latyn told her mom last year, "I want to be a goalie", and did it ever pay off for the Atom C Wilmot Wolverines this weekend in their first place gold medal win in the Stratford Aces tournament. Latyn was critical in net all weekend, but particularly in the semi-final and championship games. Both tilts ended in ties, leading to overtime play for the Wolverines, leading to shoot-outs. That is where Latyn stood on her head and was key, as she continues to gain experience as a net-minder.
In round robin play, the Wolverines finished with two ties against Brantford and Twin Centre (both 1-1), and a loss 1-0 versus Stratford. Kate Baumgart scored her first goal of the year in the game against Brantford as she lasered one from the blue line. Leah Wagler scored versus the Twin Centre Hericanes after a pass from linemate Tia DeRuiter. Brianna Arends, Sierra Egli and Carson Weiler hustled their tails off all weekend and their hard work paid off.
In the play-off round action, the Wolverines saw the Hericanes again and were down a goal early in the second after end to end play. The team began to pass the puck and after a pass out front by Egli, to Arends, Maddie Stainer-Mace fired one in the net to tie up the game much to the elation of the Wolverine crowd. The game went into overtime and the girls knew they had to step up their game. Julia James, Abby Daer and Avery Vance were solid on defence, and Baumgart dominated the middle zone and was outstanding on back-checking, along with Lindsay Slessor. Many opportunities came to light with Weiler, Egli and Wagler pressuring in the offensive zone. The game ended in a tie after with an additional five minutes of overtime. It all came down to a shoot-out. Latyn was incredible with saves against six shooters from Twin Centre, and Baumgart cashed hard in the corner of the net allowing the Wolverines to advance to the final.
In the final game against home-town Stratford, the pace was even and both teams worked tremendously hard. The Wolverines had a couple of scoring opportunities but the Aces goalie was determined. At the end of regulation, and overtime, the teams were scoreless. Weiler was the first of three shooters for the Wolverines and she knocked one high to the right, into the Aces' net. The Wilmot crowd was ecstatic with the advantage. At the end of three shooters, Latyn stoned them all again, and the championship went to Wilmot. When asked how she felt in two shoot-outs to win the tournament, Alisha said, "My knees were shaking because I was nervous." As her confidence grows and goaltending knowledge increases, special mention to the Wolverine staff, Liam Johnston, and Mark Calder, Alisha's goalie coaches. Congratulations to the girls, their coaching staff and supportive fan base after an exciting weekend of fun-filled hockey. Wilmot takes on Woolwich, Wednesday night at 6:30pm @ WRC. GO WOLVERINES!