Kincardine Battling Battlers Midget girls win gold

The Kincardine Battling Battlers Midget girls hockey team overcame bad weather and road blocks to win gold at the Kyla Kowalik Tournament held in Wilmot on the weekend. 

The first game proved to be extremely challenging as only eight skaters arrived on time for the 2 p.m. start Friday. The Woolwich Wolverines took full advantage of the situation, scoring twice in the game’s opening five minutes and then again early in the third period for a 3-0 lead. 

Aided by the arrival of reinforcements, the ladies rallied for two goals in the game’s final three minutes but were unable to complete the comeback. Goal-scorers were Jada Dunbar assisted by Billie Patterson and Korrine Mangotich, followed by McKenzie Stevens on a pass from Christen Bell.

Game two, later in the evening, saw Kincardine dominate the Twin Centre Hericanes, with Dunbar opening the scoring 45 seconds into the game with assists credited to Morgan Robertson and Bell, followed three minutes later with an unassisted goal by Bell. 

The defence of Robertson, Patterson, Kirsten Walden, Brooke Walker and Olivia Convay stood strong to hold the score, and goalie Amber Howald did an awesome job between the pipes for a well-deserved 2-0 shut-out. 

The third game was against the Kitchener Gryphons Saturday evening. The Gryphons opened the scoring in the first period, then after Bell answered back with an unassisted beauty, scored two more for a 3-1 Kitchener lead going into the second.  

Kincardine closed to within one late in the second period when Julia Convay scored assisted by Hayli Charette, then early in the third period completed the comeback when Bell tied the game on a pass from Patterson for a final score of 3-3.

The tie gave the team enough points to move on to the semi-finals Sunday morning against Aurora. Only seconds into the game, Bell weaved her way down the rink with a beauty shot for a 1-0 lead. The game was extremely intense until Charette eased the tension, scoring on an empty net helped by Mackenzie Nashiem for a 2-0 win and a trip to the finals.
 

A quick lunch break and the final game began with a rematch against Woolwich, only this time with a full squad. Woolwich was first on the board with a goal late in the first period. Midway through the second, Bell tied the score on a pass from Patterson, then Kincardine took a 2-1 lead when Charette scored from Lydia Martin and J. Convay with 33 seconds remaining in the period. 

In the third frame, Hayley Sorbara scored from Patterson and Bell to give Kincardine a 3-1 lead. Bell then proceeded with another unassisted goal before Patterson sealed the win and the gold medal, with an empty-net goal for a final score of 5-1.

The ladies all received gold medallions. Thanks to coaches Keith Battler and Dave Patterson, and trainer Helen Howald for a great weekend.

The Kincardine Battling Battlers Midget girls celebrate their gold-medal tournament win; in the back, are trainer Helen Howald (L), Morgan Robertson, Olivia Convay, Mckenzie Stevens, Jada Dunbar, Hayli Charette, Christen Bell, and coaches Dave Patterson and Keith Battler; in the middle row, are Brooke Walker (L), Mackenzie Nashiem, Korrine Mangotich, Billie Patterson, Julia Convay, Lydia Martin, and Hayley Sorbara; and in front, are Kirsten Walden (L) and goalie Amber Howald; photo courtesy of Dave Patterson