The U11BB Southpoint Stars travelled to Aurora February 7-9, for the Girls Finals and came home the International Silver Stick Champs.
In the first game against North Simcoe Capitals, the Stars came out flying with a 10-0 victory.
Leading the way offensively was Wynne St. Aubin with a hat trick and two assists. Eva McKeen and Emma Robinson each chipped in with a pair of goals. Single goals went to Sarah Beaudoin, Ella Epplett and Rylee Goodall. Scarlett Graham chipped in with two assists, as did Opal Deneau, Mila Epplett and JJ Dufour. Single helpers were recorded by Ella Epplett, Keira Anthony, Everly Fischer, Makayla Pope and Rylee Goodall. Avery Anderson stood tall in goal, earning the shutout.
In game two, the Stars faced the Belleville Bearcats and won 7-1. Belleville struck first, but Wynne St. Aubin followed with her second hat trick. The three goals were scored within 44 seconds.
Earning assists on her three goals were Goodall, Anthony, Robinson, Deneau and Tegan Grubb. Sarah Beaudoin scored twice, assisted by Ella Epplett and Graham. JJ Dufour, from McKeen and Robinson from St. Aubin, Emersyn Beaudoin, rounded out the scoring.
Game three was a match against the Cleveland Lady Barons and both teams were undefeated. The winner would become first in Pool B. From start to finish, this game was an intense back-and-forth showdown, with both teams pushing the pace and creating scoring chances.
Cleveland opened the scoring with a goal in the first period.
At 4:25 of the second, St. Aubin sprung Robinson open on an end-to-end rush. Emma made no mistakes as she found the back of the net.
Llate in the third, again it was Robinson from St. Aubin finding the top shelf while on the power play.
Playing an extremely strong game in net making several point-blank saves was Avery Anderson, who earned the 2-1 win.
In game four, the Stars faced another strong team, the East Ottawa Stars. The Southpoint Stars showed resilience, determination and team work.
In the first period, East Ottawa struck first. Then late in the period, McKeen fired in a short-handed goal from Dufour to tie the game.
In the second period, Robinson (M. Epplett, St. Aubin) gave the locals the lead.
In the third period, St. Aubin made an end-to-end rush to put her team up by two.
East Ottawa was not giving up without a fight and scored a power play goal, but, St. Aubin (Deneau) replied one more time to put the game away.
The defence of M. Epplett, Fischer, Grubb, E. Beaudoin, Pope and Anthony played great to preserve the 4-2 win.
With the victory, the Stars wrapped up the round-robin with a perfect 4-0-0 record.
Championship Sunday saw the Stars facing Brantford Ice Cats in the semi-finals. The Stars came out flying, delivering a dominant 5-0 victory.
The passing was on point, the defence was rock solid and the team’s relentless effort paid off in a big way.
Goal scorers were forwards Ella Epplett (S. Beaudoin, McKeen), St. Aubin (Deneau, Robinson), Robinson (Deneau, St. Aubin). Scoring their first goals from the blue line were Mila Epplett (Robinson, St. Aubin) and Tegan Grubb (E. Epplett). Earning her second shutout of the tournament was Avery Anderson.
The championship game was a rematch with the Cleveland Lady Barons. The Stars knew it was going to be another hard-fought battle. The teams were evenly matched.
After 10 minutes the score was 0-0.
With 36 seconds left in the second, Cleveland scored on a turnover.
But 18 seconds later, Robinson replied with assists going to Deneau and St. Aubin.
At the end of second period, the score remained tied at 1-1. With 5:45 left in the third, St. Aubin — from Robinson and Graham — scored the winning goal.
The Stars played defensively and did not allow Cleveland any quality shots.
Anderson played another strong game between the pipes to earn her sixth win of the tournament.
When the final buzzer blew, the Stars became the U11BB 2025 International Silver Stick champs.
The coaching staff of Mark Epplett, Andy Anthony, Curtis Anderson, trainer Kaitlin Davidson, manager Hedy Epplett and video streaming by the Robinsons capped off a perfect weekend.
