Lightning Travels... particularly this past weekend
The weekend of February 28 - March 1 saw most Lightning teams on the road. The U9-Applebaum team split a pair of weekend road games when they opened with a big win over the Markham Bears 11-4 thanks to some excellent passing and confident playmaking coupled with some outstanding goaltending from Hannah Weaver.
Vanessa Kernohan broke out with 4 goals, Isabel Ianni had the hat trick, Sabah Esmail added a pair with Aaliyah Natsheh and Natalie Applebaum rounding out the scoring. Vanessa Liu, Agnes Laliberte, Nicole Pham, Carlyn Joy, Kamalini Vundemodalu and Caitlyn Ling were all strong on the ring creating the turnovers that propelled the offense. The team could have used some of that extra offense when the travelled to Newmarket the following morning to meet the Rays. Short on sleep but long on effort, the team went down in defeat 6-3. Also playing in Newmarket was the U12-Mews team who skated away with a 5-1 win.
The U12P-Ianni team also split a pair of weekend road games, dropping a close 4-3 decision to the Ajax Shooting Stars before heading off to Burlington the following day where the offense broke out for a 10-3 decision over the Blast. Leading the attack was Haleigh Beam netting the hat trick and Sydney Stabler adding a pair with Camilla Kernohan, Ava Ianni, Kailey Howell, Kiana Fraser, and Caden Lee rounding out the scoring.
In U14 action, the U14A-West team left Newmarket with a 7-1 win while the U14AA-Roman team dropped a 4-1 decision to the Storm in Oshawa with MacKenzie Snelgrove getting the lone goal for the Lightning. The U14B-Giordan team split a pair of weekend road games with a 6-5 win over Newmarket before dropping an 8-3 decision to the Stingerz in Sunderland.
In U16 action, the U16A-McKnight team left Oshawa with a 7-2 victory while the U16B-Thompson team was in Pickering downing the Shooting Stars 4-2. The U16AA-Sarjeant team got to play a rare home game where they tamed the Mississauga Mustangs 7-5 thanks to a 2 goal, 3 assist performance by both Jada Laliberte and Kayla Labine. The team then headed off to Cambridge for a tidy 5-1 win where Jenni Hearn frustrated the Turbos with a solid goaltending performance. The team then travelled on to London to play their third game in 20 hours, losing 4-0 to the Lynx.
In U19 action, the U19A-File team won a pair of weekend games downing the Whitby Wild 4-2 on the road before returning home where they took down the Ajax Shooting Stars 6-1. Scoring was led by Jenny Bedard with 2 goals, with singles from Jacqueline Badgery, Meg Casbourn, Madeline Boyle and Talia Brock. The U19AA-Sandercock team got to stay at home where they split a pair of weekend games. Opening with an 8-3 decision over the London Lynx; Alex Christopoulos was strong in net while Darcy Woods, Madison Sandercock, Sarah Esmail, Brienne Paterson, Megan Simone, and Brooklin Kassermelli were scoring at the other end. The Waterloo Wildfire turned the tables the following day in holding the Lightning to 3 goals in a 7-3 loss.
In NRL action, the Lightning took a pair of games from the Atlantic Attack with an 8-4 decision in the morning before skating away with an 11-6 decision in the afternoon. Playing their third game in 26 hours, the Bolts dropped a 13-5 decision to the Montreal Mission the following morning.