For the second year running, the Barrhead Midget Blackhawks have successfully skated their way to being the zone 3 champions.
The girls had a tough game when they played in Onoway Wednesday, Feb. 6. They played timidly during the first and second periods, with Onoway landing two goals before the third.
However, things were about to change.
Heading into the final period down 2-0, the girls finally woke up and struck early. Just 39 seconds in, Shonda Rossman scored Barrhead’s first goal on a slap shot fed by Morgan Melzer from behind the net. Sam Dodds also picked up an assist, keeping the play alive after the original shot failed to go in.
With 20 minutes left in the third, Rossman scored again with another slap shot and assist from Melzer to tie the game 2-2.
Minutes later Melzer got some glory of her own, scoring two goals within 31 seconds of each other at 7:40 and 7:09 with Cora Rosychuk and Rossman getting the lone assist on each goal.
The Blackhawks finished off the game with a 4-2 victory.
“The third period is one of the best periods we have played all year,” said coach Lee Abernathy. “We forechecked, backchecked, and supported extremely well.”
With the girls leading the series 4-2, the girls played their first home game of the season against Onoway again in Barrhead Tuesday, Feb. 12. The game was a close one, and although Barrhead wasn’t able to win, they pulled off a tie to avoid a loss.
The first period led with a scoreless 20 minutes, until Melzer slammed Onoway with the first Blackhawks goal. Unfortunately it didn’t take long for their opponents to retaliate, and Onoway responded with a goal four minutes later to tie the game 1-1.
The second period was much like the first, with no scoring action until more than halfway through. Onoway powered down the ice and landed a goal with eight minutes left, putting them up by one.
However the Blackhawks didn’t let Onoway have the lead for long. Rossman tied it up once again on a power play goal with six minute left on the board, with assists from Melzer and Justine hunter.
Going into the third, the game was knotted at two. With just over six minutes left in the final period, Melzer scored her second goal of the game for a 3-2 lead. It looked as if the girls had played to a victory, but Onoway still had some fight left.
With only three minutes left, Onoway managed to get the score back to a tie with another goal. Barrhead was able to hold off their opponents, not allowing them to get many shots on net, to preserve a tie and win the series by two.
Abernathy said he thinks the girls were nervous heading into the game, but they were able to overcome that and come out with a tie for the series win for the second year in a row. For this, he is very pleased with his hardworking team.
“I am so proud of every one of the girls,” he said. “Every girl has a different role to fill and every single one of them did their job well enough to win the zone championship.”
Once again Abernathy said he is honoured to be associated with such an amazing group of young women, some of whom he has been on the bench with for five years now. Over time the girls have gone through personal growth, but not just in the sport.
“They have grown not only as hockey players, but as people,” said Abernathy. “And it is great to be a part of that.”
