April 14, 2015
1744
The Kincardine Montgomery Ford Midget girls "C" team had a fantastic final weekend away, winning their division championship at the All-Ontario provincials held in the Greater Toronto Area.
The Kincardine Minor Hockey Association had all four teams competing for medals: Atoms, Peewees, Bantams and the Midget girls. In this tournament, there were more than 630 teams competing in all divisions and levels. The Midget girls were the only team advancing to the Sunday games as one by one, the others were eliminated from the playoffs.
The Ford girls had a memorable finish to the season, and the coaches were pleased with how well they played this weekend, despite several hiccups. Their one and only goalie came down with a serious illness just prior to the provincials, so the head coach was digging through the Ontario Women's Hockey Association (OWHA) rule book for a solution. Fortunately, the Owen Sound "C" team's goalie was able to compete in the weekend tournament.
In the Midget "C" division, there was 16 teams competing, broken into four groups for a three-game, round-robin play in order to advance to the quarter-finals.
The Kinucks took on the Timmins Blue Herons in the first game and it was a tight match, with end-to-end action. The Ford girls scored late in the third and added an insurance marker with just 59 seconds remaining to win, 2-0.
The second game was against the Kitchener Lady Rangers. The Kinucks were more confident, scoring in each period and maintaining a second shut-out, winning 4-0.
The third round-robin game was against the Mooretown Flag Ladies, a team that had beat the Kinucks earlier this season. This was an action-packed match, with the Kinucks taking a 3-1 lead in the first period, scoring another goal in the second, and both teams scoring in the third, to take the 5-2 win.
In the quarter-finals, the Kinucks faced Bancroft in a very tense game. After a scoreless first period, the Kinucks scored early in the second. Bancroft scored in the third, but the Kinucks went wild, scoring three more goals in the dying minutes of the game to take a 4-1 win.
The semi-finals pitted Kincardine against a Glengarry team from the north. The Kinucks scored in the first period, again in the second, and two in the third for their third shut-out, 4-0, to advance to the gold-medal game.
The final was against the Brantford Gazelles, another team the Kinucks had lost to earlier in the season. By this time, both teams were getting worn out and had suffered numerous injuries. However, the Ford girls powered ahead, taking a 2-0 lead in the first.
The two teams traded goals in the second to make it s 3-1 game.
In the third, the Gazelles scored but the Kinucks answered, making it a 4-2 match. The Gazelles called a time-out and then pulled their goalie, managing to score to make it a 4-3 game.
The final minute of play in the game was pretty intense, and as the final seconds ticked away, the girls hung on to the win and cheered as they earned the gold medal.
The Kinucks can be proud of their 40-14-3 season! The coaches, parents and families are pleased and proud of their accomplishments this season. We are the champions! A victory parade will be organized soon - be sure to come out and cheer on these 17 gold medalists!
Related Stories
No related stories.