16U Play 6 On Their Way To The Polar Bear Tournament Championship Game

The Team Illinois 16U team traveled to Connecticut over the 2004 Christmas holiday to participate in the annual Polar Bear tournament. This tournament assembled over 220 of the top female hockey teams throughout the US and Canada. The girls appeared focused as they began the tournament with a spirited workout on the evening of December 26th. 

Tournament play began on the 27th with an afternoon game against the Sound Shore Warriors. Team Illinois's recorded 36 shots on goal resulted in a lopsided victory by TI with a final score of 12 to 1. A strong team effort on defense limited the Warriors number of shots on goal. Although not tested often, Brittany Lemke stopped several point blank shots and several breakaways. The scoring was well distributed with numerous players contributing including Megan Bozek (2G, 3A), Jenna Dancewicz (3G), Jill Kirchner (3G, 1A), Katie Osikowicz (3A), Katie Iraci (2A), and Melissa Kravich (2A) Katie Cachey, Erika Greenen, Kim Kowalczyk, and CC Wyshnytzky each scored a goal while Brianna Wolf, Courtney Bean and Katie Daniels contributed assists. 

The level of play was brought up several notches the following day. The next opponent was the Assabet 16U team, traditionally a national power. This game was projected to be one of the premier contests of the tournament. This was evidenced by the attendance of over 25 scouts and coaches who were there to identify potential future recruits to their programs. 

Megan Gallagher started between the pipes for Team Illinois. This would prove to be one of her best outings of the year. Team Illinois opened the first period appearing to score on a quick rebound attempt by Jillian Kirchner. However, the referee indicated the shot hit the near post and disallowed the goal. Gallagher held off numerous scoring chances in the first two periods. The defense of Courtney Bean, Megan Bozek , Jordan Brickner, Katie Daniels, Erin May and Diana Karouzos played very strong, limiting the number of second chance rebound attempts by Assabet. The game featured great passing, stickhandling and defense by both teams. 

The teams entered the third period knowing that a single goal could very well win the contest. The crowd cheered every pass, check and shot that was generated by the two talented teams. Finally, with 6 minutes left in the contest, Assabet scored on a one timer from the slot to dent the scoreboard, 1 to 0. Several furious rushes from the TI forwards were turned away in the final minutes. Assabet then scored an empty net goal with 20 seconds remaining in the contest to leave with a 2 to 0 victory. Although they played a great game, Team Illinois needed to win their remaining opening round games to move on in the tournament. 

Team Illinois faced off against the Canadian Atlantic Selects team in the third game of the opening round. Knowing that they needed to win each period, and the game, to move into the playoff rounds, TI applied relentless pressure in the first period recording 10 shots on goal. The Canadian goalie withstood the pressure and no goals were scored in the first period. The pressure increased in the second period as TI continued its barrage of shots at the Select's goalie. Finally, with 1 minute remaining in the contest, Jenna Dancewicz won the face off and Jill Kirchner fired a wrist shot that snuck inside the far post to give TI a 1 to 0 lead going into the third period. 

Brittany Lemke again proved to be strong in the nets as the Selects increased their pressure in the third period. Lemke stopped several odd man breakaways to keep the TI lead at one goal. At the midway point of the third period, CC Wyshnytzky (1G, 1A) received assists from Erika Greenen and Katie Daniels and fired a one timer past the tiring Select's goalie. The game ended with a 2 to 0 TI victory. 

Team Illinois needed to win its final game of the opening round to enter the playoff competition. Facing the Connecticut Stars, the winner of the contest would move to the next round of competition. With Megan Gallagher in the nets, TI needed to dominate the game and win decisively to qualify for the next round. An all around team effort resulted in a game that was dominated by TI. Team Illinois would have to exploit its overall team speed to overcome the size advantage of the Bear's team. The forechecking of Erika Greenen, Katie Iraci, Kim Kowalczyk, Melissa Kravich, Katie Cachey and Brianna Wolf kept the Stars bottled up in their end for most of the game. TI proved to be up to the task, as Jenna Dancewicz (1G, 1A) and Jill Kirchner, assisted from Megan Bozek, scored to ensure a TI victory. Once again, Megan Gallagher was strong in the nets stopping 8 of the 9 shots on goal. 

TI 16's generated enough wins and points to qualify for the playoffs. The first game pitted the TI girls against the host Connecticut Bears. Jill Kirchner, with an assist from Erin May, scored the only TI goal and Megan Gallagher stopped 13 of 14 shots. TI was tagged with several penalties in the contest but excellent forechecking from Brianna Wolf, Katie Osikowicz, Kim Kowalczyk, Katie Iraci and Erika Greenen consistently kept the Bears bottled up in the neutral zone. Regulation, followed by one five-minute overtime, produced a 1 to 1 tie between two evenly matched opponents. A shootout would decide the game. Megan Gallagher was outstanding in the net, stopping all of the Connecticut shooters while the two youngest members of the team, Jordan Brickner and Megan Bozek, scored on the talented Bear's goalie to seal the victory for TI. 

The semi-final game pitted TI against the defending national champion California Selects. Megan Gallagher was again called upon to stop the California team. The Selects were undefeated going into the contest and featured a high powered offense. CC Wyshnytzky opened the scoring in the first period. Intercepting a pass at mid ice, Wyshnytzky skated into the Selects' zone. Using the defenseman as a screen, the goalie never had a chance as Wyshnytzky fired a one timer past the stick side to give TI a 1 to 0 lead. 

In the second period, Jenna Dancewicz (2G, 1A) won a faceoff in the offensive zone. Jillian Kirchner (1G, 1A) was able to stickhandle around the goalie to give TI a two goal lead. After a late second period goal by the Selects, Jenna Dancewicz took control of the game in the third period. After intercepting a clearing pass, Dancewicz batted in a third rebound after being turned away on two earlier point blank shots. Dancewicz concluded the scoring after receiving a pass from Katie Iraci to give TI a 4 to1 lead. 

The Championship game featured a rematch between Assabet and Team Illinois, the final two teams in a 25 team tournament. This would be Team Illinois's fourth game in a twenty four hour period. In the end, the strength and speed of the Assabet team proved to be too much for the TI skaters. Assabet prevailed with a 3 to 0 victory. The team was disappointed by the loss, however, everyone was proud of their accomplishment in the tournament. This is the first time a TI 16U team played in this tournament's championship game. 

Coach Cachey stated he was proud of the grit and determination exhibited by his players throughout the tournament. "They performed under a lot of pressure throughout the tournament. This will help the team as they will play in a number of key games during the remainder of the season. Many of the scouts were very impressed with the level of play exhibited by this team."  

Tired but proud of their accomplishments, the TI team traveled home to celebrate the holiday with their families and prepare for the upcoming challenges in the next few months.