The U11BB Southpoint Stars are the OWHA Provincial Champions of Ontario after an awesome weekend in Etobicoke April 11-13.
The Stars dominated in round robin play. On Friday, they defeated the Kingston Ice Wolves 7-0. The Stars came out strong, scoring just 23 seconds into the first period. From there they never looked back.
On Saturday, the Stars continued their dominance by defeating Stoney Creek Sabres 9-0 and Barrie Sharks 9-0. In round robin play, the players demonstrated persistent pressure, smart passing and relentless teamwork. It was a full team effort. The forward lines of Ella Epplett, Scarlett Graham, Sarah Beaudoin, JJ Dufour, Rylee Goodall, Opal Deneau, Wynne St. Aubin, Emma Robinson and Eva McKeen executed precision passing and strong plays. The defence featuring Tegan Grubb, Emmy Beaudoin, Makayla Pope, Keira Anthony, Mila Epplett and Everly Fischer blocked shots and shutdown rushes. Avery Anderson played fantastic between the pipes, earning all three shutout victories.
In the semifinals, the Stars faced no stranger — the London Devilettes — a familiar opponent and a matchup that brought intensity, grit and great hockey.
Both teams came out hard, but it was the Stars Wynne St. Aubin from Emma Robinson striking first late in the first period. London answered two minutes later with a goal of their own.
In the second period, Eva McKeen passed to Mila Epplett who fired a hard shot on net. Tapping in the rebound was St. Aubin for the winning goal.
Three minutes later, Robinson fired in an awesome insurance goal. Both teams battled hard in the third period with no scoring. Earning the 3-1 victory was Avery Anderson.
With the win, the team punched their ticket to the OWHA Provincial Championship game.
Their opponent was none other than Toronto Leaside Wildcats #3775, a team they had played and defeated two weeks prior to earn the OWHA Ontario League Championship.
The championship game was anything but easy, but the Stars played hard, played smart and rose to the occasion.
Late in the first period, Emma Robinson poked in a goal assisted by St. Aubin and McKeen.
In the second period, Robinson struck again, assisted by St. Aubin.
Toronto was not about to give up and answered with a goal of their own.
Then, just 15 seconds later, Eva McKeen scored the game-winning goal, slamming in a rebound from St. Aubin.
A minute later, St. Aubin took a pass from Everly Fischer and made an end-to-end rush for the insurance goal.
In the third period, Toronto scored early on a power play goal. Then the Stars shut down the Wildcats, limiting them to just a few shots to earn the 4-2 victory and winning the OWHA U11BB Provincial Championship of Ontario.
Anderson was outstanding in the tournament allowing just three goals.
In five games, the Stars outscored their opponents 32-3.
The U11BB Stars have had an amazing year going 47 wins, two losses and six ties. They earned the triple crown of women’s hockey, winning the International Silver Stick Championship, the Ontario League Championship and the Provincial Championship for Ontario.
They were buoyed by plenty of fan support at the tournament consisting of grandparents, parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.
The team flourished under the excellent guidance of their coaches, Mark Epplett, Andy Anthony, Curtis Anderson, trainer Kaitlin Davidson and manager Hedy Epplett, who all put in countless hours of hard work and dedication. James and Christine Robinson also provided video streaming and media summaries of the games for those that could not attend the games. Blake Fischer provided a beautiful championship trophy.
