TEAM ATLANTIC A TOUGH TEAM TO BEAT FOR ONTARIO RED
SURREY, B.C. – Ontario Red may have won Thursday night’s 2-1 game against Team Atlantic, but both squads
contributed to the excitement in the stands and entertainment on the ice at South Surrey Arena.
Team Atlantic put up a tough fight while taking on the long-time defending champions, with veteran forward
Jillian Saulnier (Halifax, N.S.) opening the scoring and putting the East Coasters up on the scoreboard
during a power play at 14:41 in the first period. Fellow veteran forward Sarah Davis (Paradise, N.L.)
provided the assist to make it happen.
Although the Atlantic Canadians kept up the fast-paced played into the second, the period belonged to Ontario
Blue, with Kelly Babstock (Mississauga, Ont.) tying it up at 5:51 on a pass from Jamie Lee Rattray (Kanata,
Ont.). Nicole Gifford (Ennismore, Ont.) secured the game winner for her team as the period came to a
close.
But Team Atlantic wasn’t about to call it quits, battling its way through the third period and attempting to
put the puck past Ontario Red netminder Nicole Paniccia (Oakville, Ont.) at all costs. Paniccia was just as
determined to keep the puck out of her crease, stopping several hard shots from the point and standing her
ground while her teammates struggled on a penalty kill.
Ontario Red’s Theadora Imbrogno (Etobicoke, Ont.) found a clear breakaway midway through the third period,
but despite being stopped in her tracks by a Team Atlantic player she managed to earn herself a penalty shot.
Team Atlantic goalie Ayla Frank (Labrador City, N.L.) stopped her for a second time, one of her 45 saves on
the night.
Team Atlantic takes on Ontario Blue for the first game Friday (8 a.m. PST), while Ontario Red faces off
against Saskatchewan in the evening (5 p.m. PT). |
HOCKEY CANADA
