On behalf of James, Ken, Sarah and Tim, congratulations on being one of the "M" Region representatives for the 2025 - 2026 OWHA Provincial Championships.
Opening up Provincial Playdowns 2026, the Lady’s started on the road against the Cambridge Roadrunners. A good start in the first saw some solid play but no PP set up time. The second saw little OZ time and again the inability to get anything going on the PP. Cambridge opened the scoring on a “sleeper” faceoff that the Lady’s were “sleeping” on. Waking up for the third, the Lady’s played like a different team. Applying pressure and playing good Lady Rangers hockey, the Lady’s were rewarded with a nice, tipped shot to come away with the tie in game #1.
Game #2 saw the Lady’s travel to Waterloo after a re-scheduling need due to playoffs. A strong first saw the Lady’s take a 1 – 0 lead on a nice PP set up while also killing off two PK’s. Their good play continued early into the second with continued good pressure and some sustained PP opportunities. With just under four minutes left in the second, a puck pass to no where ended up on Waterloo’s stick and, with an unchallenged drive to the net, things were suddenly tied up at “one” heading into the break. A slow start to the third saw the Lady’s take a minute and thirty seconds to get the puck cleared out of the DZ. With just under ten minutes remaining, and undisciplined four-minute head contact would provide the Ravens with their own PP opportunity which they cashed in on. With the goalie pulled, another undisciplined penalty would ensure the Ravens their third “W” of Provincial Playdowns. The staff were hoping that this one didn’t come back and bit the Lady’s in the glutes as it wasn’t as much of the Ravens winning as it was the Lady’s throwing away the win.
In a game that bore no resemblance to the well-played third playoff game, the hockey gods gave the Lady’s a win they never should have had in game #3 against the Brantford Ice Cats. “Start the Car”!
Game #4 saw the Lady’s return home for their only “playdown” home game against the Ayr Rockets. A good start to the first saw the Lady’s capitalize on their first PP with a beautiful back door pass just under five minutes in. Having discussed the fact that penalties will start to cost them, the Rockets tied the game at “one” on a 5 v.3 “rocket” that I’m sure the goalie would like to have had back. A slow start to the second saw the Lady’s take advantage of their own 5 v. 3 on a great second effort to put them up by one heading into the break. The coach’s conversation between the second and third periods was apparently in Greek. Taking three penalties in the first six minutes and giving up a short-handed GA just under two minutes in was not the message sent. Giving credit where credit is due, the Lady’s continued working hard and were rewarded with just over five minutes remaining, securing their 2nd “W” of the playdowns.
Needing a tie or a win in game #5 against the Woolwich Wild, the Lady’s had a slow start to the first, unable to get set up on their first PP opportunity. With just over a minute left in the first, the Lady’s would get on the board with the first marker of the game. The sluggishness continued in the second with no flow, no real urgency and again no set up on several PP opportunities. With just under 5 minutes left in the second, several “fail to clear” attempts put the Wild on the board tying things at one heading into the break. Just under four minutes into the third, some further clearing attempt issues put the Wild up for their first lead of the game. With just under five minutes remaining, the Lady’s would go on their fourth PP and finally take advantage and tie things up at “two”.
While congratulations are in order for advancing to Provincials, these games were not your best hockey played by any means. We understand everyone is tied given the second round of playoffs advancement but much more attention to detail will be needed come Provincial time.
A sincere thanks to the Ayr Rockets, Brantford Ice Cats, Cambridge Roadrunners, Woolwich Wild and the Waterloo Ravens for five well-played qualifying games and our congratulations to the Waterloo Ravens and Woolwich Wild for also qualifying.
On behalf of James, Ken, Sarah and Tim, congratulations on being one of the "M" Region representatives for the 2025 - 2026 OWHA Provincial Championships. Whatever Provincial weekend may hold, please know that it has been a pleasure for all of us to have been part of your 2025 – 2026 season.
