Beaver Sports
The Napanee U18 BB Crunch were champions at the Paint it Purple DIFD Tournament in Nepean this past weekend.
The Crunch started the tournament off by beating the Kanata Rangers, 5-0. Meena Peterson earned the shutout. Goals came from Stella Sutton, Sydney Woodcock (two), Brooklyn Alaver and Abby Birdsell. Assists were added by Lila Pringle (two), Dylan Trickey, Woodcock, Bethany Foster, Chloe Davey and Alaver.
Game 2 on Friday night was no easy feat. The Crunch peppered the Carleton Place Cyclones goalie with 40 shots. The game looked like it was going to end in a 0-0 tie until Maeve Kennedy fired a shot from the point that was tipped in by Dylan Trickey with only 18 seconds left in the game. Saturday saw the Crunch face tough goaltending again, but they preserved a 1-1 tie with the Russell Coyotes and a 0-0 tie with the host Nepean Wildcats. Maeve Kennedy scored the lone goal on the day with Abby Birdsell getting the assist. This placed the Crunch in second place in the seven team pool and setup a semifinal rematch with the Kanata Rangers. Pringle scored the lone goal of the game early in the first period. Peterson was flawless in earning the win.
The gold medal game was the match of the season. The Ayr Rockets were the No. 1 ranked team in the province with the Napanee Crunch ranked second. The Crunch were fired up before the game started. They came out flying and Pringle buried a breakaway deke on the first shot of the game. She then added another goal later in the first to take a 2-0 lead. The Rockets got a powerplay goal also in the first to keep things close. Claire McConnell buried a beautiful backhander top corner to add an insurance marker in the second period. That is how the game finished. The Rockets just could not figure out how to counter the ferocious Crunch forechecking. The Crunch are still undefeated on the entire season and have now won three tournaments this season.