Beaver Sports
The Napanee Doyle’s Window Sales U18 BBs Crunch the Provincial Champions after topping the Ottawa Ice 4-1 in the OWHA finals.
Napanee started off the tournament facing the highly touted Norfolk HERicanes. The Crunch dominated this game, winning 3-0 with Lila Pringle scoring a pair.
Game 2 saw the Crunch make quick work of the Orangeville Tigers. Goals were scored by Neeleigh-Raye Ford, Claire McConnell and Sydney Woodcock with a hat trick while assists went to McConnell (two) and Woodcock.
Game 3 would see the Crunch lock up first overall and home advantage through the playoff rounds after routing the Huron Heat, 5-0. Goals were provided by Woodcock, Abby Birdsell, McConnell, Pringle and Dylan Trickey.
The highly ranked Oakville Hornets were next on the lineup card for the Crunch to take down. Again, the Crunch dominated this game from start to finish, winning 3-0. Stella Sutton buried her first of the tournament and Kristen Sutton and Woodcock added to the total.
The semi-final matchup was the one the Crunch had been looking forward to since early March. The Crunch were knocked out of the OWHA Southern Playoffs by the Toronto Leaside Wildcats and wanted revenge. The Wildcats scored in the second period to take the lead, but the Crunch came out flying in the third period. Kristen Sutton scored a one-timer that would make Alex Ovechkin proud. She got a beautiful feed from Pringle from the corner to the far circle. Aidan Kirkpatrick caused a turnover in the neutral zone and deked her way through three Leaside defenders before burying the puck over the glove of the goalie to go up 2-1. Woodcock added an empty net to put the final nail in the coffin.
The final would see a long awaited rematch of the championship game of the Oshawa tournament back in September. The Crunch beat the Ottawa Ice 3-1 in that final and knew the Ice were looking to repay the favour. The Crunch were not having it as they opened the scoring, 27 seconds into the first period and wouldn’t look back from there. The Crunch won this one, 4-1 securing the provincial gold medal. Meena Peterson was stellar in goal the entire weekend with four shutouts.
This team won three regular tournaments this season in Oshawa, Barrie and Nepean. They faced the best teams in the province and ended up with a record of 40 wins, one loss and seven ties.