A budding rivalry between the Sudbury Novice "B" Lady Wolves and the Clarence Rockland Lightning is now tied at a game apiece.
Thankfully for the locals, they picked the right game to win.
Coach Eric Parisé and the novice girls avenged a 1-0 round robin loss to the Lightning, producing a mirror image scoreboard in blanking the Ottawa crew in the championship final of the North Bay Ice Boltz Tournament last weekend.
The Lady Wolves needed very little prep time to get their tournament game into gear, posting a 4-0 whitewash of the host Ice Boltz in game one, as Olivia Carrière, Gabrielle Cholette, Isla Cirillo and Nevaeh Koostachin all scored in support of goaltender Jordyn Hampel.
Their one and only mismatch would come opposite the Sault Ste. Marie Wildcats, as the Sudbury reps reached double digits in their triumph over their Highway 17 West counterparts.
Cholette (3), Cirillo (2), Michaela Cole (2), Carrington Parisé and Sophie Gauld paced the attack for the winners, with Hampel making it back to back shutouts between the pipes.
The 1-0 loss to Clarence Rockland Saturday afternoon did little to dampen the enthusiasm of the Novice Lady Wolves, rebounding with a 3-1 semi-final win over North Bay. Cirillo and Gauld found their way back on to the scoresheet, joined this time by Isabelle Perry.
Come the Sunday final, Hampel was throwing up a brick wall for the Sudbury side, with Koostachin netting the game-winning goal in a contest decided by the slimmest of margins.
The 2017-2018 Novice "B" Lady Wolves team includes Whitney Basso, Lauren Bouchard, Olivia Carriere, Gabrielle Cholette, Isla Cirillo, Michaela Cole, Scarlett Duhaime, Sophie Gauld, Jordyn Hampel, Nevaeh Koostachin, Alexa Labrecque, Avery Mininni, Carrington Parisé, Isabella Perry, Megan Pineau, Leah Salo, head coach Eric Parisé, assistants Rick Cirillo, Dan Cholette and Rob Mininni, trainer Catherine Carrière and manager Lisa Labrecque.
The Novices will need to wait a month or so to test their luck again in tournament action, participating in the Snowflake Challenge, right in their own backyard, from Dec. 8-10.
