THUNDER BAY, ON – The Thunder Bay GridLink Atom Queens were victorious at the Keating Westfort Fall Classic, going a perfect 6-0 over a weekend of games which had some close calls in the playoff rounds.
In round robin action, the Queens began the tournament with a 5-1 victory over the Elks Penguins in a game which saw Ella Favot score twice and add a helper. From there the GridLink Queens posted a pair of shutouts, first by goaltender Kaiya Waswa in a 7-0 drubbing of the Neebing Wildhawks, and then by netminder Ainsley Pare as the Queens defeated the Westfort Rangers 3-0 carried heavily by a pair of goals by Karlyn Maguire-Stein. In their final round robin game, the Westfort Maroons would get on the board early in the first but it would be the end of any celebrations for them as the Queens answered with 7 goals. Maguire-Stein again added a couple goals along with Kingston Golding who had a pair as well.
In the semifinals, VP Bearcats goaltender Logan Briggs would give the Queens fits has he shut them out for two periods. VP would break the scoreless draw to take the lead early in the third. Soon after though, Makenzee Kostiuk would finally break the shutout, scoring and tying the game at one. The game looked to be headed to overtime when Favot scored with 12 seconds left, lifting the Queens to victory and the Championship game.
In the final of the Westfort tournament, a tightly played game with the KC Knights went scoreless until late in the second period. The Knights took a 1-0 lead and the Queens answered back with a goal from Goulding. KC would again take the lead going up 2-1 after two periods. Pressing in the final frame of the final game, Mackenna Wright would finally score late in the third to tie the game up. With another game threatening OT, the Queens found another last minute hero as Elizabeth Gagnon scored to give the Queens their first lead of the game which they’d hold onto and win the Keating Westfort Fall Classic Atom A Championship. The Gridlink Atom Queens follow the Fury Jr Thunderwolves as the second straight all-female team to win the Atom A division.
