What a weekend the 12U's had! On Friday, September 23rd the team traveled by bus to Beachwood, Ohio for the Ignite the Ice Tournament. Everyone met at the Edge and boarded the bus. Forty-five minutes into the trip, the bus had a flat tire! After waiting almost two hours, the bus company sent someone to change the tire and the TI 12’s were "on the road again". A few minutes later the bus driver took a wrong turn and was heading to Detroit! A few exits and a few turns later got the bus headed for Ohio again. It was a long and exhausting ride for all, especially the girls who had to face the Kitchner Lady Rangers at 10:30 p.m. After a 10 hour journey, the bus finally pulled into the Gilmour Arena at around 8:00 p.m. Coaches Steve Jakubowski, Glenn Hoff and Victor Senese were excited to see how the girls would stack up against the competition. This was their first game as a team and they were ready. The girls started out very strong with a goal from Sammi Edelson, assisted by Giovanna Senese. Our next goal came from Katelyn Hodgman, assisted by Cara Piazza. The game ended in a 2-1 victory for TI. Although we won the game, we were not awarded all 5 possible game points. Two points were earned for a game win and 1 point for a game tie plus 1 point was awarded to the team that won each period. This became significant later.
The second game was Saturday morning against the Michigan Capitals. The effects of the long bus ride had taken its toll on the girls. The 12’s had only one unassisted goal by Jilly Kosteck. That wasn't enough for a victory and TI lost 2-1. A bigger loss for the team was defenseman Randi Fabsits ended up with shoulder ligament damage and spent the afternoon in the hospital. She missed the remaining 2 games. She had been a big contributor in the first two games and she will be missed immensely.
TI paired up with the Ohio Flames in game three, Saturday evening. Piazza started us off with a great goal with an assist from Eileen Harris. The second and third goals were scored beautifully by Senese, one assisted by Kelly Murray and the other unassisted. The 12U’s were now up 3-0 to start the third period and were on a roll. In an unusual move, Coach Steve pulled our goalie with less than 2 minutes to go (remember we are winning 3-0) and sent in a 6th forward. The Flames shot an empty netter and it was saved with an acrobatic and amazing slide by Kosteck. Then Hodgman shot the puck with the help of Hailey Baker and scored and won the period. The game ended in a 4-0 victory for Team Illinois. What an exciting ending!
Although we won 2 of 3 games we did not make it to the finals because of the point system. Instead, we played a match against the Iceburghs from Pittsburgh for 5th place and TI won 4-1. In this game the goals were scored by Carolyn Fuwa, assisted by Kelly Micholson: Hodgman assisted by Katy Ratty and Kosteck; Piazza assisted by Kosteck and Edelson's goal was unassisted. Over the weekend, the girls won three out of four games. As you can tell the goaltending was fabulous. Julie Gunnerson and Stephanie Lemke together allowed only four goals in four games. They split every period of every game.
Madeline Tank led the defense with her strength and great gap control. Sam Ratty was an integral member of the offensive squad - as she was on the ice for four of our goals.
The ride home was uneventful except when we ran out of gas!!!!!!!!! Literally on I-290!! This was definitely a trip to remember for the girl's awesome play, great behavior and the bus!
