It would be difficult to imagine the Sudbury Atom "B" Lady Wolves travelling to a tournament to find better competition than they encountered at the 21st annual Orillia Hawks event this past weekend.
The locals opened their round robin schedule against the third place team in the LLFHL (Lower Lakes Female Hockey League) East Division, edging the Peterborough Ice Kats (8-3-8) by a final score of 2-1.
Goals by Tessa Ranger and Gabrielle Gallagher provided just enough offensive support to allow Sudbury netminder Paungbiisohn Trudeau to register the win between the pipes.
Next up, the Belleville Bearcats and their 14-0-2 record in league play, with the provincial medal contenders playing to a 1-1 draw. Delaney Williams netted the only goal for the northern squad, with Madison Robert backstopping the team in net.
No rest for the wicked, as they say, as the Lady Wolves closed off against the East Division leading Orillia Hawks, with the tournament host sporting a record of 15-4-2.
The Sudbury girls dropped a 2-1 decision, as the team missed advancing to the semi-finals by just a single point. Mercedes Zazulak registered the marker for the Lady Wolves, whose roster is rounded out with Tessa Alexander, Chloe Charbonneau, Hannah Staffen, Mya Massimiliano, Ava Massimiliano, Ayla Lagace, Laryssa Mayer, Sarah Boudreau, Janna Tarini, Kyra Knapaysweet and Nyssa Solomon.
"Despite not advancing to the semi-finals, the girls played their best hockey of the season," noted Sudbury head coach Sean Gallagher.
The next tournament action for the girls comes on the weekend of Feb. 17-19, with the group off to compete in the Durham West Bolts and Hearts Annual Rep Tournament.
