A stingy defense that relinquished just one goal in three games has helped propel the Sudbury Bantam "A" Lady Wolves to second place in the LLFHL (Lower Lakes Female Hockey League) Central Division, three points back of the Aurora Panthers with two games in hand.
Closing out the 2017 portion of their current regular season schedule with a three-game swing last weekend, the Lady Wolves (9-1-5) opened with a huge 1-0 win over the third-place Etobicoke Dolphins (7-4-6).
Goaltender Majia Valtonen backstopped her team to victory, posting the shutout, while Sophie Bensley drilled home the only goal of the game. The Sudbury crew extended their unblemished defensive efforts to two full games with a 4-0 whitewashing of the North York Storm (0-13-4) early the next day.
Plenty of variety was evident on the attack for the winners, with Trinity Jeffery, Meghan Papineau, Danika Lalonde and Mikayla Papineau plotting one goal each, while eight different players would draw assists on the markers.
Puckstopper Abby Calvank followed the formula that was established by Valtonen, making it back to back shutouts for the Bantam "A" tandem. The strain of three games in less than 24 hours was evident early Saturday evening, as the Lady Wolves settled for a 1-1 tie with the Scarborough Sharks (1-11-6).
Kianna D'Attilio pulled the trigger for the locals, who are back in action with a four-game set on the weekend of January 5th to the 7th.
Sudbury Bantam "AA" Lady Wolves were likely not all that satisfied with their weekend, on the other hand, despite managing a split with a 2-2 record.
Facing a pair of teams that were ranked below them in the LLFHL standings, the northern crew were hit and miss offensively, kicking things off with a 1-0 loss at the hands of the Barrie Sharks.
No problem finding the back of the net in game two, outscoring the Toronto Leaside Wildcats 4-1 on tallies from Breanna Coyne, Elizabeth Laberge, Kelsey Dunn and Chloe Leduc.
The Bantam "AA" Lady Wolves (6-8-1) finished the weekend tied with Barrie (5-11-3), due in large part to a second straight setback at the hands of the Sharks.
There was at least some Christmas cheer for the road as Sudbury closed out the trip with a 2-0 triumph over Leaside, with Leduc and Dunn providing ample offensive support for Lady Wolves netminder Kiana Trottier.
The team will join their "A" counterparts in launching the 2018 calendar year with a four-game series in Toronto in early January. The Central Division of the Midget "AA" grouping sees the Toronto Aeros (13-3-2) and Sudbury Lady Wolves (11-3-4) running away from the pack, having built up a seven-point lead over the Etobicoke Dolphins in third.
Coach Jay Duncan and the girls racked up three more wins to close out their December calendar, blanking the Barrie Sharks (2-0), Etobicoke Dolphins (3-0) and rival North Bay Ice Boltz (2-0).
In the process, the goaltending duo of Mireille Kingsley and Natania King have now combined for four straight shutouts in league play, a sequence they would love to extend when action resumes on January 6th.
The Vaughan Flames (2-11-2) are up for a Saturday doubleheader, with league play in the books two weekends later as Sudbury meets up with both North Bay and the Sault Ste Marie Wildcats for a pair of all-northern affairs.
Make it seven straight wins for the Sudbury Midget "A" Lady Wolves, edging the Brampton Canadettes 3-2 before rolling over the Vaughan Flames to the tune of a 4-0 victory last weekend.
Vanessa McKinnon showed the way with a two-goal effort in the opener, with Danika Godin rounding things out. McKinnon upped her weekend total to four goals the next day, joined in the two-goal category by Hannah Nykilchyk, with Veronique Hamelin posting the goose-egg between the pipes for Sudbury.
Coach Daran Moxam's squad still have six games left in January to continue to climb the standings. With a record of 8-4-4 (20 pts), the locals now find themselves tied for third place with the Clearview IceCats, with Barrie just one point ahead.
