THUNDER BAY, ON — The semifinals of the Confederation College Invitational Tournament was underway Sunday morning starting with the Gridlink Midget A Queens who took on the Prairie Blaze, a Manitoba Jr. team of players aged 17-24. The teams exchanged goals in the first with Sibley Duckert scoring for the Queens. The Blaze scored an additional goal in the second. The Midget As fought to get back in as goalie Camryn Williams turned away all shots but in the end it’d be former Midget A Queens player, now Captain of the Blaze, Whitney Scott sinking the empty net goal in the dying seconds and eliminating the Midget As from a Finals appearance. 3-1 final.
In the opposite bracket, the Midget AA Queens went up against the LU Thunderwolves. The game remained scoreless until Alexis Paddington would break the ice with 12 seconds remaining in the first period. Lucy Newman would score the only goal of the second period on a setup feed from Kendra Fortin. Goalie Josee Robinson would continue her perfect game turning away 21 shots on her way to a shutout while Paddington would score her second of the game and the insurance marker en route to a 3-0 win and a date with the Prairie Blaze in the final.
In the Championship game, Jessie Scott’s early goal would be the only marker for a long stretch of the game and the Midget AAs would look to netminder Kamryn Sandelovich to maintain the narrow lead. It wasn’t until the third period when a flurry of goals would finally come through for the Queens with Mackenzie Lehto scoring and then just 42 seconds later Lucy Newman would score again, giving the Queens a 3-0 lead with the game clock on their side. Lehto would add another goal, her third point of the game, earning her MVP honours as the Midget AAs held a 4-0 victory over the Blaze and win the Confederation College Invitational Tournament Championship.
On their 6-0 run, the Midget AA Queens outscored their opponents 32-2. The Midget As leave with a record of 2-2-1, outscoring opponents 13-11.
