Coach Cachey would not call the hockey season a mountain if it was going to be easy….right? Including their exciting victory at the Polar Bear tournament to close out 2005, the TI 16U’s were faced with 19 games in 5 states in 27 days. During this grueling period, a couple of motor vehicles had to be repaired, there were broken skates and sticks, some bank accounts suffered serious damage, and several parents were near exhaustion, but one thing did not change……the goose egg in the loss column. The girls overcame some serious challenges from their rivals to finish the MWEHL season undefeated with a record of 17 wins, 0 losses, and 5 ties.
The final two showcase weekends of the season featured match-ups with Little Caesars, Honeybaked, Texas, the Chill, the Wild, Colorado, and CYA. The weekends took place in Detroit and Kenosha but one thing was consistent….the opponents seemed to always bring their “A” game when they saw blue and white lined up against them.
The January 13-15th Detroit weekend started out on Friday night with Little Caesars jumping out on top and TI needing a third period comeback to walk away with a 5-2 victory. The next morning TI started out against Honeybaked with a lot of energy and built up a 2-0 lead but the Hams still had hopes of catching TI and taking the top spot in the Midwest Elite League regular season and were not about to give up. They battled back for a 3-3 tie to keep the race alive for first place.
The following weekend in Kenosha started out against the Wisconsin Wild, a team that was on a hot streak after a very impressive showing at the Polar Bear tournament. They also had a score to settle with the girls from Illinois who defeated them in the championship game in Hartford a couple of weeks previously. The Wild came out flying and got on the scoreboard first for a 1-0 lead. The game would feature back and forth action and end in a 2-2 tie.
The TI girls knew they had to take care of business against Colorado on Saturday morning and they did just that, with a decisive 5-0 victory. That set up the showdown with arch rival CYA in the afternoon. The stands were packed and the energy level was high for this spirited battle, with neither team wanting to give an inch to the other. In the end, both would be successful and the game ended in a 2-2 tie that kept TI undefeated in league play and also kept CYA’s MWEHL playoff hopes alive.
This taxing schedule was followed by a practice with their little buddies on the TI 12U team, and keeping up with them was no easy task either. With no games for a couple of weeks, Coaches Cachey and Hug are easing up the pace so all of the girls are mentally and physically ready for the final ascent. With the regular season in the books, the TI 16U’s are under no illusion that it gets any easier. They know that they have some very tough competition in the MWEHL playoffs in Lansing in mid February followed by the Illinois State tournament which starts at the end of the month.
One thing is for sure. They have worked extremely hard for five months preparing for this and will be ready to give it their best shot when the puck drops for the post season. Congratulations on a spectacular regular season and good luck as you climb to new heights in the coming weeks.
