Nov 28, 2022 | Ted Martin | 168 views
U22A Lady Rangers Three-Peat at Fallfest
For the third Fallfest tournament in a row, the U22A Lady Rangers captured gold at this weekend's Kitchener tournament.
After giving up a last-minute shorthanded goal to Guelph to suffer a tie in the opener on Friday night, the Lady Rangers went undefeated through the remaining five games. They defeated North York 4-0 on Saturday morning, then edged Lakeshore 3-2 on Saturday afternoon, with a last-minute goal, after blowing a 2-0 lead. They finished first in their pool.
In the quarter final on Saturday evening, Kitchener edged the Clarington Flames 3-2 for their third consecutive win of the tournament and their third consecutive win over the Flames, who they defeated twice last weekend. In the semi-final on Sunday morning, the Lady Rangers met North York again, and dismissed them with a solid 5-0 victory, to set up the much anticipated final against the St. Catharines Brock Badgers.
The Badgers came into the tournament with a perfect record this season -- having gone undefeated in exhibition, regular season and tournament play. They marched through the round-robin without allowing a goal, then secured victory in the quarter- and semi-final rounds. St. Catharines last lost a game on March 20, though Kitchener had managed to tie them in an exhibition game in September.
Kitchener fell behind on a bad bounce on a power play in the first period, but battled back for a tie in the second, then scored a couple of goals for a 3-1 lead. St. Catharines scored late in the game with the goalie pulled, but couldn't get the equalizer, as all the Lady Rangers dug in deep to preserve the win.