Submitted by David Laneville, vice-president, Timmins Ringette Association
The U16A Timmins Tornadoes competed in the 2022 provincial championships in Ottawa on March 17-20. Due to the lock downs in the province over the season the team found themselves in a 17 team division with only four teams moving onto the semifinals. They knew that there would not be much room for error as they played their five round robin games. The first game was played against the tournament favorite from West Ottawa and the team knew that they would have to play their best game of the season right out of the gate. We decided to concentrate on a defensive game to try to limit the scoring opportunities for the high powered opponent. The team delivered and fell just short 1-0 giving the West Ottawa team their closest match of the tournament (who did not give up their first goal against until their seventh game of the tournament). The defensive triangle and the stellar goal tending by Jo-Anne Vane who made over 50 stops kept them within one shot of a tie game.
Day two started with a game against Sunderland and the team was looking to put a few rings into the net. They were able to do it while steam rolling to a 8-1 victory. Leading the way was Keenyah Murray with 3 goals and two assists, Amaya Come with two goals and an assist, Karine Bolduc adding three assists, Camryn Hyde with a goal and Lauren Bonsall leading the way on defense and scoring a goal as well. The late game was against St Mary’s and the team got off to a slow start and found themselves down 3-1 early in the first period. The team battled back to take the lead in the game with 1.5 minutes to go in the game. Unfortunately they were not able to stop the hard charging opponent in the last minute as the game ended up in a 4-4 tie. Zoe Brazeau scored the go ahead goal and played a great game leading the team from her center ice position.
Day three started against the City of Ottawa and the Tornadoes came out flying and seeming scored at will in a 7-0 win that was never in doubt. They played a strong team game as the defense found themselves on the score sheet with Ella Brumwell, Talia Rivard and Janelle Lapierre each scoring a goal. Before the last game the Tornadoes found out that they would not be moving on to the semifinals, this lead to an emotional pregame talk with the coaches before they stepped onto the ice. They were able to control their emotions against a team from Barrie and pulled out another victory 8-3 with Keenyah Murray scoring an incredible six goals and an assist, Anika Alarie played her best game adding a goal and an assist. Every player on the team had scored at least one goal during the tournament and the Tornadoes finished the round robin with a record of 3 wins, 1 tie and a loss and one point out of the semifinals. They finished the year in sixth place in Ontario and far outreached expectations with all of the changes to the team from years past. The Coaches – Kristin Murray, Amber Smith-Come, Claudette Vane, Serge Rivard, Jean Come and Trevor Vane would like to thank the team for all of their hard work and dedication this season. With all of the changes in the world over the past two years it was nice to see the team on the ice playing the sport that they love!!