Tornadoes Return From Whitby With Silver !!

From January 3-6, 2020, the Timmins Ringette Association sent 4 competitive teams to compete in the 41st annual Ringette A Tournament in Whitby.

The U16A Timmins Tornadoes entered the Tournament undefeated to date for the season, but knowing that this weekend would bring the added challenge of playing against the strongest teams in the Province.

Fuelled by a strong desire to continue to push for success, the Tornadoes’ offense literally started with fireworks. With blinding speed, flawless execution of their plays, and great all-around teamwork, they scored a total of 27 goals in the first 3 games of the round robin. They began by defeating Ajax by a score of 9-0, went on to defeat Richmond Hill 8-2, and finally cruised to a 10-1 win over Mississauga. However, the next team that they faced was an all too familiar foe that they had faced many times in the past- Gloucester Cumberland. The U16A team worked hard to resist the strong challenge and built up an early 3-0 lead. But in the second period, mental mistakes and sheer fatigue marked their undoing as they saw Gloucester come all the way back to tie the game 3-3. It was a lesson for the Timmins team to learn from if they had hopes of playing in the finals on Sunday.

As fate would have it, they faced off on Sunday in the semi-finals against West Ferris (North Bay); the same team that they played in the semis in the last tournament in Ottawa. As is always the case between these 2 teams, it was a back and forth battle with many scoring chances and heart stopping plays. In the end, the Tornadoes’ defense and goaltending won the battle, and Timmins would go on to play for the Gold medal thanks to a 4-2 victory.

In the finals, Timmins faced Forest, one of the top teams in the Province. For the first time this year, the Tornadoes didn’t take the lead in a game. Forest proved to be a formidable opponent, and took a 1-0 lead. The Tornadoes managed to tie the game on a goal from Sierra Landry. But Forest responded with only 33 seconds left in the first period to take a 2-1 lead. Once again, Timmins fought back hard and tied it on a goal by Madison Seguin. Forest took back control of the game with 7:44 left to go to go up 3-2. The Tornadoes called a time out late in the game to regain their composure and plan out a strategy to get the equalizer. With hard work and sheer determination to succeed, Timmins scored the tying goal with 33 seconds left on tally by Marguerite Bourdage-Cote. That meant overtime and the beginning of nervous moments for the Timmins fans and supporters. Unfortunately, the Ringette Gods were not in the Tornadoe’s corner this time. Timmins had plenty of opportunities to win the match, including a shot that struck the cross bar and landed flat on the goalie line. Forest scored the winning goal less than two minutes after that to take the Gold. The Timmins team came home with a well learned Silver medal. For the Tournament, the Timmins U16A team was led by exceptional goaltending from the duo of Katie Page and Kyara Breton, who allowed a tournament low 12 goals against in 6 combined games. On the scoresheet, the team was led by 17 points from Marguerite Bourdage-Cote and Sierra Landry, 13 points from Caelen Easton, 9 points from Marie-Pier Durepos-Letourneau, 8 points from Jessica Boileau, 5 points from Danika Ratte, 4 points from Tessa Desjardins, 2 points each from Madison Seguin and Samantha Stewart, and one point from Karine Harvey.

The coaching staff is extremely proud of the U16A Timmins Tornadoes, who remain one of only two undefeated teams in ranking games in the Province with 7 wins and 1 tie (Forest being the other team). The team now prepares for their final ranking tournament in Guelph from February 7-9, 2020, with the ultimate goal of preparing for the Provincial A championship in Ottawa in mid March 2020.

Three other Timmins teams competed hard in this tournament but fell short of bringing home medals. The U12 Provincial Petites are still learning to play as a mostly new team of players, and were able to secure a hard fought record of 2-2 in round robin play. Unfortunately, they did not qualify for the medal round on Sunday. The team was led in scoring with 4 goals by Brooke-Lynne McGinn and 3 goals by Juliette Bourdages-Cote. Jana Courchesne, Emerly Cote, Cloe Belanger-Gallant, and Tatiana Dalcourt contributed 2 points a piece.

The U14A Tornadoes had a perfect round robin performance with a 4-0 record; scoring 23 goals while allowing a tournament low 3 goals. Goalies Gabrielle Brazeau and Jo-Anne Vane were simply outstanding all weekend. In the semi-final on Sunday morning, the team found itself playing the same West Ottawa team that they had defeated 5-3 in game one of the round robin. This game, like the first, did not disappoint as far as compete level or excitement. The match was tied 2-2 after the first period but Timmins could not match West Ottawa in the final period, and lost a heartbreaker, 4-2. Over the weekend, the Timmins team was led by the scoring exploits of Maria Aide Rios (9 points), Ella McCarty (9 points), Ella Brumwell (8 points), Lauren Bonsall (6 points), Camryn Hyde (6 points), Adison Roberge (4 points), Isabella Beatty-Peters (4 points), Karine Bolduc (3 points), Amaya Come (3 points), Talia Rivard (3 points), Zoe Brazeau (2 points), and Keenyah Murray (1 point).

The U19A Tornadoes came into this weekend undefeated all season, and coming off of a Gold medal performance at their last tournament in November 2019. This team did not disappoint in round robin play with a perfect record of 4-0, and scoring a tournament high 26 goals while allowing only 8 goals against. Goalie Emilie Robert was solid all weekend. Timmins played in a semi-final game on Sunday morning against West Ottawa; the same team that they had soundly defeated 6-2 the previous day. But, this game was set to be a much closer battle between two strong teams. The first period proved to be a back and forth affair with both teams scoring 3 goals. In the second period, both teams showed the frustration that comes with playing in a tight game, with plenty of penalties on both sides. The period ended with each team securing a goal and heading to overtime after a 4-4 tie. The overtime was exciting and nail-biting as the teams went back and forth in trying to gut out the win. In the end, the Timmins team was undone by a crucial penalty. West Ottawa scored with the advantage and went on the play in the finals later that day. For Timmins, it was a successful weekend and a good lesson to learn as they continue to move towards their goal of winning the Provincial A tournament in Ottawa in March 2020. The U19 A team was led by Sydney Dagenais (14 points), Marie Bourdages-Cote (10 points), Kara D’Arcangelo (9 points), Emilie Viel (7 points), Jordyn Bartolomucci (5 points), Gabriele Larocque (4 points), Melina Verreault (4 points), Sarah Deforge (4 points), Karine Trudel (3 points), Renee Viel (3 points), Amelie Mainville (2 points) and Hailey Brousseau (1 point).