STONEY CREEK, ON – This past weekend the Bantam AA Thunder Bay Queens traveled South to partake in the 9th annual Stoney Creek Bantam AA Showcase, a 48-team tournament with teams from Canada and USA.
The Queens got off to a great start Friday morning picking up a 2-1 victory at the expense of the Philadelphia Jr Flyers. The Flyers opened the scoring in the first period on a powerplay but the lead was short-lived as Julia Buchan would setup Alexis Paddington who tied the game just 13 seconds after. Netminder Lindsay Humeniuk shut the door the rest of the way allowing the Queens to eventually score the game-winner in the third period as Paddington notched her second goal of the game. Strong goaltending would be Friday’s theme as Mykaila George shutout the Cambridge Roadrunners through three periods but it, unfortunately, wasn’t enough as Thunder Bay dropped a 1-0 overtime loss.
Saturday morning, the Queens put their 1-0-1 record up against the Oakville Hornets. Oakville opened the scoring in the first with Thunder Bay answering late in the second as Olivia Nicholl scored on a setup from Gaby Andreacchi and Kendra Fortin. The Hornets regained the lead a couple minutes later but with 10 seconds left in the period, Nicholl would return the favour setting up Fortin to tie the game. The third period would go scoreless leading to a second straight overtime finish. Unfortunately, the result would be the same with the Queens dropping another game in an extra frame. In the afternoon, the Queens would drop a 7-4 loss to the Ottawa Lady Senators. Reese Coffey would pick up a couple goals in the effort and Paddington would register 3 assists.
The Queens faced their toughest matchup Sunday morning against the Neapan Wildcats who they lost 5-1 to. In all, the tournament made for an excellent early test for the Bantam AAs as they start the 2017-18 campaign.
