Aylmer frustrates peewee girls
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The Tillsonburg Lightning Horvath Auto peewee girls only have a couple days to get back in the ‘hockey saddle’ after a 2-1 loss to Aylmer Wednesday night knocked them out of OWHA C playdowns.
Locked in a tight three-team, round-robin preliminary series, the Lightning needed a win Wednesday to advance to a best-of-three regional final that – if they won – would have sent them on to the Provincial C Championship Tournament in Ottawa.
“Our coach told us before the game, we knew it was must-win,” said Lightning defenceman Emma Couwenberg.
Tillsonburg had shutout Aylmer 1-0 in their first playoff match, said Lightning teammate Sydnie Horvath, also a defenceman.
“It was close…” said Couwenberg, recalling the Valentine’s Day win.
And it was close again Wednesday night with another goaltender’s duel at the Kinsmen Memorial Arena.
“It was pretty close, we just couldn’t get it in the net,” said Horvath. “We had more shots.”
“Yeah, their goalie is really good,” nodded Couwenberg. “We do pretty good (scoring), we’ve been trying our best.”
Aylmer’s Olivia Hirisola and Reagan Bennett scored to give the visitors a 2-0 lead, but Lightning’s Mackenzie Kersten got one back late in the second period, assisted by Taylor Jamieson and Yvonne Deutsch.
Tillsonburg goalie Alyson Moylan and Aylmer’s netminder, who stopped 15 third-period shots, were both flawless in the final frame and Aylmer, who was already mathematically eliminated, held on for a 2-1 victory.
“The girls left everything out on the ice,” said a proud Horvath Auto peewee coach, Mike Skinner. “The girls played with everything they had… they just came up one goal short.”
If Tillsonburg had won Wednesday they would have had a 2-1-1 round-robin record. Five points would have tied Ingersoll (1-0-3), but the Horvath Auto peewees would have advanced based on the two wins.
Aylmer was out regardless, which left the Lightning a bit frustrated at game’s end.
“A little mad,” admitted Couwenberg.
“A little…” agreed Horvath.
Every Lightning game was a nail-biter – a 3-2 loss and 1-1 tie with Ingersoll, a 1-0 win over Aylmer, and Wednesday’s 2-1 loss.
“There were no blowouts,” Skinner noted. “Every game was hard-fought, very tight, very competitive. We were right in there.”
LOWER LAKES
“We don’t really have much time to bounce back,” said Skinner. “We start our second round of LLFHL (Lower Lakes Female Hockey League) playoffs on the 24th. Our next practice isn’t until next Wednesday (Feb. 27).”
Mitchell and Tillsonburg, who received a first-round LLFHL bye, will play a best-of-three series that will continue March 2 in Mitchell. If necessary, Game 3 is back in Tillsonburg March 3.
Horvath and Couwenberg both figured Mitchell was on par with Aylmer and Ingersoll.
“We are close (with Mitchell), we’ve won against them a couple times,” said Couwenberg.