FARIBAULT, MN – The Sportop Midget AA Queens competed this weekend at the Shattuck St. Mary’s Girls Hockey Jamboree in Faribault, Minnesota.
The Queens played their opening match against Pilot Mound on Friday afternoon winning commandingly 8-0. Goaltender Aden Johnson would earn the shutout, giving her three straight games without surrendering a goal, while forward Molly Kunnas amassed four goals in this game.
On Saturday morning, Thunder Bay took on the Pembina Valley Hawks. Brenna Nicol opened scoring in the first with a shorthanded goal. A flurry of goals would come in the second period as Kaylee Grosjean and Victoria Darosa both scored to give the Queens a 3-0 lead before the Hawks scored twice in 13 seconds to cut the lead to one. Kunnas would score in the third with Pembina responding but Ellen Svane would sink an empty netter to put the game out of reach, 5-3 final.
That evening saw the Sportop Queens face the Westman Wildcats. Both teams found the net in the opening frame with Allyson Lesperance scoring on a setup from Vanessa Nicholl and Brenna Bohonos. Kunnas would score in the second to pull the Queens ahead. Johnson did the rest stopping everything the Wildcats threw at her as Thunder Bay skated away with a 2-1 win.
With their 3-0 record, the Queens were matched up against the Milwaukee Jr Admirals U19 team on Sunday morning. The Admirals would strike first and second with two goals in the first but the Queens answered back on a goal by Kunnas. Thunder Bay’s Nicol would draw the teams even early in the second but Milwaukee jumped back ahead with a late goal in the period.
The Queens pressed in the third to tie the game back up but the wheels fell off somewhere as the Admirals pocketed three goals in the last three minutes.
It wasn’t the strongest of finishes but a great showing overall as the Sportop Queens leave Shattuck St. Mary’s with a 3-1 record, outscoring their opponents 17-10.
