U12 Provincial and OCRRL Championships
Both Richmond Hill Lightning Ringette teams brought home medals from the U12 Provincial finals held in Sault Saint Marie April 3-6. Playing in different divisions, both teams got off to an excellent start winning their first two games.
Playing in the McCarthy Division, the U12-West team posted wins over Chatham 2-1 and Ottawa GCRA-B 8-3 before dropping a close game to Forest 4-3. The team rebounded with hard fought battles over Mississauga 3-2 and Whitby 4-3 to finish 1st after round robin play and earn a spot in the gold medal final. The final was a rematch against Mississauga where the lead changed several times before Mississauga came out on top with a 5-4 win. A well earned silver medal for the Lightning where Haleigh Beam and Haley Wickens recorded 8 goals a piece during the tournament to finish tied for 2nd in division goal scoring.
In the Bennet Division the U12-Zanon team got off to a fast start posting wins over SS Marie 7-4 and Ottawa-Quinn 4-3 before a heartbreaking loss to Ottawa-Landry 7-5. With the Lightning trailing 6-5 in the final minute, and trying to get the goalie out for an extra attacker, the Ottawa team kept pressing and broke the hearts of the Lightning players by scoring with 43 seconds remaining. The Lightning finished 3rd after round robin play to advance to the semi-final and a rematch against the Ottawa-Quinn team. In the semi-final the Lightning fell behind by two goals twice at 2-0 and 4-2 before coming back to tie the score each time, but could never gain the lead in dropping an 8-5 decision to finish as Bronze medallists. Kaylin Joy led the team in scoring with 9 goals and had a top ten finish in the division points standing.
Meanwhile, in Oshawa several Lightning teams were competing in the Ontario Central Region Ringette League (OCRRL) finals where the U10-Harling and U14-Edward teams returned as silver medallists. After being presented with a gold medal for finishing atop the league standings, the U10-Harling team opened the tourney with a 6-3 win over Richmond Hill’s U10-Lee team before besting Oshawa 8-3 and Whitby 8-5 to punch their ticket into the gold medal final. The final was a rematch against Whitby who got their offence into high gear posting a 9-5 win to relegate the Lightning as silver medallists. The U14-Edward team went undefeated during round robin play posting 2 wins and a tie to face an undefeated 3 and 0 Markham team in the final. Markham had already taken the season series between the two teams posting 2 wins, 1 loss, and a tie and kept their winning record in tack with a 4-2 victory in the final.
Also playing in the OCRRL finals were the U9-Laughlin, U12-Mews, and U16-Booth Lightning teams. The U9 team faced Oshawa in a semi final match-up with Oshawa but could not hold off their attack in succumbing 9-4 and out of the medal match. The U12 team was unable to muster any offence as they were shut out twice during the tourney by eventual finalists Oshawa and Markham. The U16 team split their first 2 games losing to Whitby 7-3 before beating Sunderland 4-1. Needing a win against Pickering to advance to the medal match, the team fell short dropping a 6-3 decision.