submitted to EFP
Over the weekend, the Essex Thunder teams participated in the 29th annual London Devilettes tournament. It is one of the largest tournaments for girls hockey, hosting over 200 teams. All four Essex teams went in with hopes of bringing home banners.
All four teams came out strong, winning the first games on Friday. In the second round, Essex Peewee White and the Intermediates won again, taking leads in the pools. Peewee orange lost in a close fight 1-0 and the atoms tied its second game.
With round three on Saturday, all the girls were well rested and pumped for action and all four teams took to the ice for another win. All the teams were moving on to quarter finals on Saturday night.
Unfortunately, this meant that Peewee White and Peewee Orange would be facing off, and that would mean an elimination for one of the teams. In one of the best games of the weekend, the two teams faced off. After three periods in a great game, with solid forward action and tight defence and goalies standing on their heads for amazing saves, they sat in a no score game and headed into overtime. First 4-on-4 play for 3 minutes, then 3-on-3 play for 3 more minutes, and still no score. The excitement flowed through the arena as the teams headed into a shootout. With goalies both playing solid, Peewee Orange finally managed to nudge Peewee White out with a goal.
At the same time, the Atom players, cloaked in paint, to show their colours, came out swinging and sent their opponents home. The Intermediates then sent home local rivals, the Lakeshore Lightning team. This meant three of the four teams would move on to the semi-finals to represent Essex in style on Sunday morning.
The girls woke up energized and ready to play. The Atom team came out fighting and didn’t give its opponents a chance to make a move. The team dominated the game and set themselves up to move onto the finals. Peewee Orange did the same, knocking out local rivals, Kingsville. The Intermediate players came out and played their hardest, but came up just short of moving on, with a 2-1 loss to the Whitby Wolves.
With two teams moving onto the finals and both wanting to bring home banners, the energy flowed through the teams. The Atom team was up first, playing the hometown team, London Red. The Atom team came out and played some of the best hockey it has played all year, controlling the game, to win 2-0 and to bring home the banner. This marked two years in a row for this young team to win this tournament.
Next up was the Peewee Orange, looking for their chance to bring home a second win for Essex. The team also came out swinging and in a hard fought, fast moving game, inched out the Wilmot Wolverines to a 2-1 win.
Congratulations to both winning teams, and all of the players, and coaches for a great weekend of hockey!