Thanks to all the Kitchener Lady Rangers U18 “A’s” who spent the weekend in Kanata for the 42nd Kanata Girls Light the Rink Tournament.
The Lady Rangers started things off Friday against the Kanata Rangers. A good start in the first kept
opportunities limited on both sides. The Lady’s held their own in the second and continued their good
PK coverage managing to kill off a 5 v. 3. An unfortunate missed O-Zone F3 lead to a 2 v. 1 that would
provide Kanata all the scoring they would need to take game #1. Game #2 saw the Lady’s taking on the #1
provincially ranked St. Catharines Brock Badgers. Mid first, on what should have been an easy out of the
zone clearing, unfortunately turned into the first Badgers goal. In one of the more physical games of the
season, the Lady’s successfully killed three of four penalties and kept “running” to a minimum in their D-
Zone coverage. The Badgers are #1 for a reason and coupled with little opportunity otherwise, the
Lady’s would take their second loss of the tournament. Game #3 had the Lady’s facing the Russell
Coyote’s. A strong first saw the Lady’s scoring just fifteen seconds in as well as keeping the Coyote’s to
zero shots on goal. Penalty trouble in the second saw another good 5 v. 3 PK (let’s not make this a
habit). Adding a second goal on their first shot of the second, the Lady’s would continue their strong
play and take their first two points of the tournament. Game #4 had the Lady’s facing the Nepean
Wildcats in a must win game for the Lady’s. Injury and sickness bugs had the Lady’s playing short with
just two forward lines. The inability to capitalize on several PP opportunities was the most unfortunate part
of game #4. The Lady’s drove the bus, out shot and out played the Wildcats. Scoring on just their 6th shot
of the game, the Wildcats took a late 1 – 0 lead before the Lady’s scored in the dying seconds.
Unfortunately, in a several way tie for the fourth and final playoff round spot, Nepean would advance
with a 0.145 better percentage than the Rangers. (yes, every goal and every point matters).
James, Sarah, Tim and I would like to thank all the ladies for their hard work and efforts this weekend. We knew this was going to be a challenging weekend given the strength of the teams we were playing. As discussed, we don’t simply want to “play”, we want to “compete”. If we continue the way we are “by the numbers” (nothing we can do about the “13” but the 8/21 and the 86 must change) it is going to be a difficult, and perhaps quick, end of season. Everyone needs to give their best in practice. The short missed passes, missed coverages and failure to capitalize on opportunity cost you this weekend (as well as the last three regular season games). You are paying a high price and cannot afford to have this continue to cost you.
Congratulations to our “Players of the Games” Ms. Ventura, Ms. Hesler, Ms. Lavell and Ms. Mather. Well deserved!! Our thanks to Kanata (0-1), St. Catharines (1-4), Russell (2-0), and Nepean (1-1) for four well played games of hockey. On behalf of the Lady Rangers players and staff, congratulations to the St. Catharines Badges on their Gold Medal win.
