The U14 age group was dominated by the West Ottawa Ringette Association at both the “A” and “AA” divisions this year. Both teams came out victorious at their respective provincials.
Over the weekend of March 3-5, West Ottawa’s U14AA-Benoit team travelled to Kitchener/Waterloo to compete in the provincial tournament organized by Ringette Ontario.
At the tournament, the AA girls finished the round-robin round with a 3-1 record, securing themselves a place in the quarter-finals. In the quarters, they faced off against a local rival the Nepean Ravens. After defeating them 5-0 in a shutout victory led by strong goaltending and effective goal-scoring, the Wild moved on to the semi-finals.
Once again, putting the ring in the net was no issue for the U14 Wild team as they came out victorious with a score of 5-1, punching their ticket to the provincial finals. Olivia Binder was a key offensive contributor in the game with two goals and one assist.
With that victory, the finals stage was set. West Ottawa would be facing off against the hometown team, Kitchener. Despite not having the local crowd on their side, West Ottawa would once again, come out with the win. After a pair of goals from Aurelie Lacourciere and one each from Addison Currie and Olivia Binder, the Wild earned their gold medal with a score of 4-1.
Between effective scoring, strong goaltending, and a solid defensive core, the West Ottawa Wild’s U14AA-Benoit team was certainly a force to be reckoned with at their provincial championships. With their victory in the finals, the team has now become Team Ontario and will wear a new set of Red and Black jerseys as they represent their province at the Eastern Canadian Championships starting April 20th.
The team will travel to Dieppe, New Brunswick to wear the Team O logo on their jerseys and play against teams from all over Eastern Canada in the ECRC. You can watch the West Ottawa Team compete at the tournament in April at https://www.ringette.live/
The U14AA-Benoit team was not the only gold medal winner this year though. The U14A-Lorimer team also came home with some hardware at their own provincials a week later.
From March 16 to March 19, West Ottawa Ringette’s “A” level teams travelled to Mississauga to compete in Ringette Ontario’s Provincial Championships.
While at the competition, the U14A-Lorimer Wild team found themselves finishing the round-robin games with a record of 2-1-1. That would be enough to get them into the playoff round where they would face Sunderland in the Quarter Finals. With the help of two goals from forward Zoey Lorimer, the West Ottawa team came out with a 3-1 victory and moved on to play the number one-seeded Burlington in the semi-finals.
West Ottawa had already faced Burlington in the round-robin games and that game resulted in the Wild’s only loss of the tournament as they lost in a dramatic 9-2 game. However, there’s a reason they say the hardest thing to do in sports is to beat the same team twice in one tournament. With their season on the line, West Ottawa defeated Burlington 3-1 in order to move on to the finals. In an individual offensive effort, Emily McLaughlin had a hat trick, recording all three goals for West Ottawa and propelling them to the championship game.
In the final game of the provincial tournament, West Ottawa was up against Greater Sudbury. In a close game that had everyone on the edge of their seats, West Ottawa was victorious with a final score of 3-2 over Sudbury. Goals came from all different players including, Rachel Taylor, McKenna Foley, and Emma Grimm. Emily McLaughlin also recorded an assist and solidified herself as the leading point-getter for the Wild team during the provincial tournament and the eighth-highest point scorer in the tournament.
With their victory in the finals, the U14A-Lorimer team proved that West Ottawa Ringette is going to be the team to beat for years to come.
Their success at both the “A” and “AA” levels this year is an incredible accomplishment for the West Ottawa Ringette Association and means that they are only going to become more dominant as they keep playing. Congratulations to both teams on representing West Ottawa at such a high level!
Well written!