Feb 20-22 Lightning Strikes
The U9-Applebaum team recently played a weekend home-and-away series with the Sunderland Stingerz. Opening the series at home, Sabah Esmail netted a double hat trick but it was not enough as the Lightning lost a heartbreaker 10-9.
The stinging defeat was still fresh in the minds of the Lightning players when they took to the ice in Sunderland the following day. Despite strong goaltending by Kamalini Vundemodalu and a two goal, one assist performance from age-eligible call-up Agnes Laliberte; redemption was not to be as the Stingerz went on to an 8-3 victory.
Playing on the road for 3 consecutive weeks caught up with the U10-Harling team who fell behind early in Mississauga in dropping an 8-4 decision to the Mustangs. Returning for their first and only home game in February, the team played a strong all around game taking an early lead and never looking back en route to a 9-6 victory over the Whitby Wild. Ashley Haji provided the timely stops in net in not allowing the Wild from mounting a possible comeback. The U10-Laughlin Team travelled to Newmarket and came away with an 8-4 decision over the Rays.
The U12-Mews team didn’t get the start they wanted when they dropped a 6-1 decision to the eventual gold medalists from St. Thomas at a tournament in Paris, Ontario. Engaging host Paris in their second match, the team knew that another loss would eliminate them from any possibility of advancing to the medal match. The two teams provided onlookers with a very exciting game where the lead changed hands several times. The Lightning scored five goals thanks to a pair from Emily Tang, with singles coming off the sticks of Caelynn Wiseman, Alexa Togneri and Matangy Kanesamoorthy. Unfortunately, Paris managed six goals and took the match 6-5. Despite knowing they would not advance the Lightning put together a solid team performance in defeating Dorchester Dragons 7-4 in their final round robin game. The strong checking of the Lightning defence limited the Dragons opportunities on net, and Stephanie Zahn was strong in net when needed. Kanesamoorthy provided all the offense the Lightning needed netting 5 goals with Wiseman chipping in with 2 others.
The U12 Chamandy team won both of their weekend games when they downed the Sunderland Stingerz 5-0 and the Pickering Shooting Stars 7-2. The U12P-Ianni team travelled off to Whitby where they came away with a 7-2 victory over the Wild.
The U14A-West team dropped a close 3-2 decision to Oshawa to start a 3 game road swing. They turned things around with a 5-2 win in Burlington over the Blast and carried that momentum on to St. Thomas where they came away with a 4-3 decision over the Comets. The U14AA-Roman team split a pair of weekend games when they picked up a 5-3 road win over Mississauga thanks to a pair of goals from Haley Wickens with singles from Kate Vandeloo, MacKenzie Snelgrove, & Julia Roman. Facing the Cambridge Turbos at home, the Lightning couldn’t get untracked as the Turbos left town with a 4-1 victory. Wickens got the lone goal for the Lightning on a nifty set up from Simone Branch.
The U14B-Giordan team downed the Newmarket Rays 9-4; the U16A-McKnight team shut out the Cambridge Turbos 4-0; the U16AA-Sargjeant team defeated Whitby Wild 6-3; the U19AA-Sandercock team dropped a 6-2 decision to Geulph Predators; the Open-B Todd team dropped a 6-3 decision to Newmarket; and the U16B-Thompson team shut out the Whitby Wild 5-0.