Mission complete for the bronze belles of St. Albert ringette.
A scintillating comeback in Saturday’s 3-2 bronze-medal showdown against British Columbia successfully completed a season-long journey to nationals for the U19AA Mission team.
“Last year we finished 14th (out of 18 teams) so our goal at the beginning of the year was to try and make the top eight, the championship round. So, to get a medal just encompasses all the hard work and effort we put in to this team and all the dedication we have for each other and just how we played as a team,” said co-captain Lauren Henderson, a first-team all-star forward at the Tim Hortons Canadian Ringette Championships in Fort McMurray.
Bronze was as good as gold for the Mission.
“The fact that we managed to medal at nationals is just amazing for all of us,” said netminder Lauryn Girard. “It’s probably the biggest accomplishment for any of us.”
The Mission finished 5-4 at nationals and 31-14-1 overall in the second season of the belle AA program with the St. Albert Ringette Association.
Every player on the Mission roster had previous AA national experience in belle or U16 juniors.
“When you compare how well we did this year compared to last year it’s definitely good,” said Girard, one of nine returning Mission belles in the lineup. “It’s a lot of work and a lot of commitment and time and energy but in the end it’s worth it. It was a lot of fun. We all grew together and got closer and became a team.”
The Mission got off to a rocky start at nationals with losses of 4-0 to B.C. and 6-5 to the Nepean (Ont.) Ravens. A 1-1 stalemate at the half turned into a 6-2 lead for Nepean. The Mission replied with three goals in a row before running out of time against the eventual gold medallists.
“After the first couple of games we realized that if we wanted to go as far as we could we had to really step it up,” said Girard, who stopped 35 shots against Nepean. “It just kind of set in that this is nationals, it’s the last tournament of the year and we just had to give it our all and leave everything on the ice.”
The Mission responded with victories of 13-4 against the Regina Bandits and 6-3 against the Eastman (Man.) Flames in day two.
Co-captain Marie-Eve Gautier pumped in five goals against Regina and Girard faced 24 shots in the last period and 42 overall against Eastman.
“We just decided to calm down and play our game and play for each other and let the scoreboard do the rest and it really worked out well. We did what we had to do in order to play our best. All the girls on the team chose their role and did it to the best of their ability and it worked out for us,” said Henderson, who posted two goals and four assists against Regina. “That was a huge win for us. We put up some big goals against Regina and that helped us build our momentum and our confidence.”
The third and last day of pool play started with a 3-2 loss against the Team Alberta reps from Calgary. It was 2-2 after the first period. Shots were 17-11 for the Mission in the last period and 29-27 overall.
The last game against Quebec determined if the Mission would advance to the championship round or play in the consolation pool. The Mission came out flying with five goals on 25 shots in the first period. Henderson tallied twice and her twin sister, Kate, also scored, as did Haley Groenenboom and Sarah Willette. Shots were 39-19 overall in the 5-1 decision as Quebec broke Girard’s shutout bid at 7:58 in the last period.
“It was the constant positivity on the bench and the help from the coaches and all the players and the pats on the backs that fuelled the fire,” Henderson said.
The Mission placed fourth in their pool and played the Ontario reps from Guelph, undefeated in the other pool, in the quarter-finals. All the scoring took place in the first period as Kate put the Mission on top with two goals in a 2:13-minute span before Ontario pulled to within one with less than three minutes until the break. The shot count was 16-5 in the last period and 33-22 overall for Ontario as Girard backstopped the Mission past the team to beat at nationals. Ontario had won all but one tournament this season prior to nationals.
“That was probably the highlight of the season for myself and probably the team too,” Girard said.
In the semifinals the Mission, the third-seeded Alberta team out of five from the Wild Rose province at nationals, hooked up with their rivals from Calgary and lost 5-4.
“I think there were a lot of nerves going into that game. We played as well as we could and luck wasn’t on our side this time I guess,” Girard said. “This entire season it’s kind of been back and forth between us and either one of us could come out on top.”
Gautier filled the net twice and Sara DeRose also scored as the Mission chased Calgary’s starting netminder after four shots in the opening five minutes.
Calgary rebounded with two goals before the period ended.
Kate’s goal at 2:44 in the last period made it 4-2 before Calgary struck three times on the power play as the Mission racked up some untimely penalties. Calgary’s winner was scored with 4:57 to play.
The shot count was 14-10 for the Mission in the third and 26-23 overall for Calgary, who settled for silver after falling 3-0 to Nepean in the final.
In the bronze final, it was 2-0 for B.C. before the halfway mark in the first period when coach Niki Andruchow called a timeout.
“She just reminded us not to think about the end result or the bronze medal. She said we’re here to play for each other,” Henderson said. “It’s our last game so we decided to just calm down, focus on the team and focus on our roles and play for each other.”
Gautier’s shorthanded effort at 4:27 of the last period cued the comeback. Less than three minutes later she evened the score. The recipient of the individual achievement award in the game finished the tournament with a team-high 11 goals and three assists.
“When she got those two quick goals it was a huge turning point for us. It really helped with the energy and the good vibes on the bench. There was no stopping us after that,” said Henderson, 18.
Her seventh goal and team-leading 18th point at nationals was the winner with 5:13 remaining.
“Sara DeRose passed it to me and I kind of crossed the triangle and luckily it went in the right corner that was open,” Henderson said. “It was team play that got us that one. I would credit it to our constant backchecking. We managed to turn over the ring a couple of times and it was just a shot that luckily went in.”
The Mission outshot B.C. 17-11 in the last period and 32-12 overall.
“We just kept pushing and didn’t give up,” said Girard, the defensive player of the game. “We wanted to do it for each other. It’s our last game of the season and the last time a lot of us would be playing with each other.
“In the dressing room it was all tears after the game.”
Girard, 18, was the only Belle netminder to play in all nine games at nationals.
“It’s definitely tiring and it does wear on you eventually,” she said. “I knew coming in at the start of the season that I had to physically and mentally prepare for that because being the only goalie that’s what I had to be ready for.”
Co-captain Siobhan Scantland was a second team all-star selection on defence and Kate dialed up nine goals and five assists to tie Gautier for second place in team scoring at nationals.
Visit www.stalbertgazette.com to view the team’s bronze medal picture.
ICE CHIPS: The junior U16AA Mission finished seventh overall at nationals. Coverage of the team will appear in the Saturday’s edition of the Gazette.
