The Stratford Aces U18 AA team fared quite well in the Stoney Creek Showcase, one of the top tournaments of the year.
The team started off dominating the shots in their first game against Caledon. After three periods the score was knotted at 1-1 but the local ladies outshot their opponents 47-6. The game headed into overtime and the Stratford Aces would drop a tough first game 2-1.
“It was a tough pill to swallow,” said Sean Cameron, the Aces' head coach.
The Aces would regroup against a tough team from Thunder Bay who had previously defeated them, as they would come away with a 2-2 tie.
“It wasn’t the win we had hoped for,” said Cameron. “We knew we were not where we wanted to be, but we were improving and that's what mattered.”
Saturday saw the local ladies face tough competition and rise to the occasion. First up was a 4-1 win against a solid team from St. Catherines. The second game of the day saw the Aces shut out a team from British Columbia. “That was a squad with an impressive pedigree,” said Cameron. “They just won the ESSO Cup two years ago, so it was a formidable challenge and the team rose to the occasion.”
The Aces punched their ticket to Sunday with the wins on Saturday. The ladies took on a well-respected team the Detroit Honey Baked. The girls were firing on all cylinders at this point and thanks to amazing teamwork they shut out Detroit 3-0.
Even though the Aces finished with three wins, a loss and a tie, they wouldn’t advance to the championship round or the finalist round. The Champions of the entire tournament was a team from Chicago, while a team from Illinois finished second, North York took home bronze and Leaside took home brass.
Despite the lack of tournament success the local coach was happy with how the team performed overall. “From a rocky start to a triumphant finish, the tournament had been about more than just wins and losses, " said Cameron. “ It was about learning, adapting, and getting better every single game.”
