Posted by Greater Sudbury Northern Life 
Given the unprecedented growth in girls hockey, it would be
easy to forget that the sport, as we currently know it, was
virtually non-existent just a few decades back. In fact, the
1970s would see a handful of young ladies and their families
challenge the minor hockey infrastructure with the hope of
having girls playing on boys teams.
Unfortunately, given the viewpoint that ringette provided an
equal opportunity to pursue an alternative of their own,
virtually all early attempts proved unsuccessful.
These days, mixed gender teams at the younger age divisions is
almost a given, regardless of where you live in the province.
But it's the explosion of female-only teams that has fuelled
the development of women's hockey and it shows few signs of
rescinding.
Case in point: more than 80 all-girls teams were in town this
past weekend, taking part in the 14th annual Northern Ontario
Hockey Challenge (Sudbury Girls Hockey Tournament). With teams
traveling in from Ottawa, Timmins, Marathon, Thunder Bay,
Kapuskasing, Pembroke, Smooth Rock Falls, Brampton, Hearst,
Sault Ste Marie and North Bay (not to mention the annual trek
of the folk from the James Bay community), the event is drawing
from an ever-increasing scope of talent.
All of which gave way to some great action in a number of the
divisional finals. The Midget "AA" final saw the Sudbury Lady
Wolves avenge a 4-1 round robin loss to the Thunder Bay Queens,
shutting out the northwestern Ontario crew 1-0 in the
championship affair on the strength of a goal from Jacklyn
Upchan early in the third period.
A familiar name to long-time local hockey folk made a
triumphant return home as Sudbury native Ray Irwin guided the
North Bay Ice Devils to a 5-3 win in the Novice Houseleague
final over the Findlays Puckhounds.
The former Sudbury Wolf and Washington Capitals' draft pick
received a pair of goals from Madeline Stockfish and singles
from Mackenzie McMahon, Sarah Irwin and Sonya Stencell helped
pick up the win. Annaleigh Males, with two, and Maggie Little
replied for the Puckhounds.
The Bantam "A" Lady Wolves, who fell 2-1 in the championship
final to the Sault Ste Marie Wildcats, managed to secure a
berth at Provincials in April, thanks to a 5-2 win over the
North Bay Ice Boltz on Friday. Mackenzie Gibson and Meggie
Lesage scored one goal each for the Wildcats, leading the Soo
to victory with Corie Jacobson answering for the Lady Wolves.
A little more hardware went to the Gateway City as the North
Bay Guardian Ice Boltz tripped up the Sudbury Fisher Wavy
Flames 3-1 in the Atom Houseleague final. Selena Sciuk, Morgan
Bossert and Stephanie Winterburn handled the scoring for the
winners with Haley Leblanc managing the only Flames' goal.
More than 80 all-girls teams were in town this past weekend, taking part in the 14th annual Northern Ontario Hockey Challenge.
There was a scoring explosion in the Peewee "BB" final as
the North Bay Hilltop Ice Boltz doubled the Sudbury Lady Wolves
6-3, scoring four times in less than three minutes early in the
third to secure the win.
Taylor Murphy paced the North Bay attack with a two-goal
effort, with singles coming from Alexie Bergeron, Brooke
Mathias, Kelsey Murdoch and Bailey Bentley. Celina Robicheau
countered with a pair of markers for Sudbury, with Sydney
Walker netting the remaining goal.
The Thessalon Jr Lions proved to be the class of the Peewee
Houseleague grouping, dusting the Adventure North Panthers 6-0
in the Gold Medal encounter. Rosemary Rankin and Rebecca Julien
scored two goals each in the win, with solo markers courtesy of
Kaitlyn Murray and Alyssa Grondin.
The Atom "B" ladies provided a little payback for their Peewee
counterparts as the Lady Wolves bounced the North Bay Ice Boltz
4-2 in the final. Josee Scott scored twice for the winning
team, with Marina Plexman and Megan Potvin chipping in with a
goal apiece while North Bay sniper Maria Dominico netted both
tallies for the visitors.
An all-Sudbury Bantam Houseleague final as Furoy's Stars slip
past Hite Services Lightning 2-1 thanks to a pair of second
period goals from Manon Blais and Ashley Germain. Bailey
Cameron reduced the lead to just a single goal in the dying
minutes for the Lightning, but that was as close as they would
get.
The Sudbury Lady Wolves Bantam "BB" team moved up one notch
from their Silver medal winning performance in Durham West one
week ago, edging the Hearst Ice Cats 2-1 to claim gold in
Sudbury. Josee Bedard and Hana McLeod scored for the Lady
Wolves, while Veronik Samson replied with the only Hearst goal.
The Manitoulin Ice Angels Midgets ensured that a little extra
hardware would return to the Island, as the team downed the
Thessalon Jr Lions 5-1 in the Midget Houseleague final. Jenny
Delange led the way for the Angels, recording the hat trick,
with Deanna Riching and Gabby Esposto also hitting the
scoresheet for Manitoulin. Sydney Lovelace managed the only
Thessalon goal late in the first.
And finally, the Ottawa Valley Thunder received goals from
Sadie Wagner, Andrea Bishop and Samantha Regier, toppling the
Timmins Garage Avalanche 3-0 in the Midget "A" final.
Randy Pascal is the voice of Persona 10 Sports and the founder of SudburySports.com.
