Jan 15, 2013 | KLarochelle | 893 views
Bantam Wolverines Kowalik Finalists!
For the second time the Bantam Wolverines made it to the Championship game! They rolled through the round robin undefeated only to come up short once again in the final game...
The Wolverines started against the Kitchener Thunderbirds, who have been improving each time we have played them. Our ladies played to a fun and well fought 2-2 draw, with Captain Jess Leiskau taking MVP honours for her excellent two way play and getting her team on the board.
Friday evening found the ladies much more prepared for the Grand River Mustang's. The Wolverines came out fast and hard, and were firing on all cylinders offensively. We jumped out front of the Mustangs scoring five goals before giving two back. Congrat's to Caley Klaassen for her first of the season and playing a more aggressive game, earning MVP honours.
On Saturday afternoon the team was well represented at the Skills competition by Katie Kneisel for fastest skater, Ashley Leu for stick handling, Cass Schmidt for shootout and Jillian Chesney as the goalie. Though they battled hard, we couldn't bring home any hardware as we were kept off the podium.
That evening the Wolverines hosted a new team from Oakville. The Red Rolling Thunder did not mount much of a storm though, as the Wolverines were again able to prove their might. Wilmot easily silenced the storm blanking them 5-0 on thanks to a four point game including a natural hat trick by Jess and solid housekeeping in their own end lead by Kira Larochelle who took MVP credit. Abbey Luckhardt was solid in goal when she had to be, notching another shut out for her efforts. The Wolverines won their pool and would face the Waterloo Ravens Sunday morning in the semi finals.
The Semi Finals' again proved to everyone that this team is the real deal. The Ravens who also brought an undefeated record in four games, couldn't muster much against the Wolverines. Led by assistant captain Cass VanKalsbeek who scored a goal and played a controlled yet in your face game. At the buzzer, Wilmot helped goalie Jillian Chesney to yet another shut out. The Wolverines had allowed only 4 goals in four games, while tallying 16 goals for.
The Finals saw to adversaries meeting once again. The Wolverines met the Kitchener Mustangs at the Jason Cripp's tournament for their first meeting at the semi-finals. In a closely fought affair, Wilmot came away with a one goal win that moved them into the Finals. Wilmot would meet the Mustangs again in first game of the playdowns two week's later and would lose in a one goal decision. Both teams would go into this Final knowing that each could better the other and that it would be another close game.
The first period would see the both teams feeling each other out, but with Wilmot taking the period with a few more scoring opportunities. The second period would be all Wolverines hockey as they found themselves finally on the score board with Ashley Leu potting a nice goal on a sweet pass from Jess.
The game was marred by some strange call's and non calls, one of which came back to haunt the Wolverines with only minutes left the game. After tieing up the game, Kitchener would go on the powerplay with minutes left in the third. It would take with one in the Wolverines penalty box for the game to come undone for Wilmot as Kitchener was able to swing the momentum and tally the go ahead goal. Kitchener would hang on as the Wolverines poured on the pressure in the final minute. As the buzzer sounded, the Bantam Wolverines would find themselves settling for Silver once again. The Wolverines welcomed back alternate Captain Katie Kneisel who had been out for several months, and what a welcome addition she was as she potted several goals this tournament and some stellar defence. For her effort's in this game she took the final game MVP.
The team celebrated their second visit to a Championship game this season satisfied with their effort, but not so much with the final results. They will get yet another chance in less than a month's time when they leave for their away tournament in Stoney Creek. This their third time, will be the charm!
A big congratulations to Atom and the Peewee L/L teams for their run's to the finals. It was nice seeing the Wilmot Wolverines Local League so well represented at our home tournament.
Thanks also to the Peewee C team for their fundraising efforts this weekend. They met their goal, but also surpassed it so as to be able to make an fundraising effort for the rest of the association. Great job Wolverine families for supporting them.
Go Wolverines Go!