The Team Illinois 19U team ventured up to Stevens Point September
17-19 to compete in the second annual Point Cup Tournament. This is
considered an "early bird" tournament for TI, since they
are precluded by AHAI rules from practicing prior to September 1.
Most of the teams in the tournament are "before and after"
teams that have been playing together all summer. The 19U's knew
they had their work cut out for them.
The action began Friday evening with a game against the Madison Capitols. After seven minutes of getting to know each other on the ice, TI found itself on the power play, and Ingrid Klockars deflected home a Jillian Korbas slap shot for the first goal. Alexi Bloom turned away all 11 Madison shots in the period, which ended 1-0.
Ten minutes into the second period, Jillian Kirchner stole a puck and danced through the Madison defense to beat the goalie and increase the lead to 2-0. Madison got one back at the 8:47 mark, but then TI got their second wind. Francie Steger lit the lamp off assists by Ilyse Zack and Klockars, and then Kerry Mullins finished the scoring with an assist from Misty Pirus at the 1:36 mark. Final score was TI 4, Madison 1.
Later that night, TI took the ice against the Walser Minnesota All-Stars, one of the premier before and after teams. TI actually got the first goal of the game, courtesy of Nicole Sassorossi, with an assist by Tori Wiedmeier. Unfortunately, TI had little left in the tank after the Madison game, and Walser scored five straight in the period for a 5-1 lead. Each of the Walser goals was either scored or assisted by Boston College bound star Anna McDonald. Only the strong goaltending by Ryann McCarthy kept the game close. The second period saw the Minnesota girls continue to dominate the action, but McCarthy stopped 21 of 22 shots in the period. The final score was 6-1.
Saturday afternoon, the well rested team came out to face the Thunder Bay Queens, the lone Canadian entry. The early action went back and forth with good scoring chances at each end. At the 10:18 mark, Courtney Bean bagged a power-play goal off a great feed from Katie Osikowicz. Twenty three seconds into the second period, Francie Steger scored, again off an Osikowicz pass. TI scored four minutes later, this time Steger from Kirchner, and the lead was now 3-0. Thunder Bay refused to go away, and they scored two power play goals to narrow the gap to 3-2. During the final four minutes, the Canadian girls threw everything they had at TI, but solid defense and goaltending preserved the victory.
The final round robin game Saturday night found TI playing the second of three Walser all-Star teams. The first period found Walser predictably controlling the action, but great goaltending by McCarthy held them scoreless. TI, meanwhile, counter-punched twice on goals by Osikowicz (from Steger) and Kirchner (from Osikowicz). The period ended 2-0 TI.
Two minutes into the second period, TI extended their lead on a goal by Steger, assist to Andrea Fuwa. At that point, a series of penalties gave Walser momentum, and despite Ryann McCarthy’s valiant effort they broke through for five goals to take the game 5-3.
TI finished the preliminary round with a 2-2 record, tied for second in their five-team grouping. This finish meant that TI would face Team Wisconsin on Sunday.
The first period saw both teams mounting numerous scoring chances. Team Wisconsin had the better of it throughout the period, outshooting TI 15-7. However, great defense and the goaltending of Bloom kept the game scoreless.
Early in the second, the teams traded power-play goals. TI got a Courtney Bean goal on an assist from Wiedmeier and Korbas. Wisconsin got their tally with ten minutes to play. The final minutes seemed to drag on forever, and at one point Wisconsin had the benefit of a 5-3 power play. But Phoebe Amberg, Bean, Zack and Korbas stood their ground on defense, and Bloom stopped twelve shots over the final nine minutes to preserve the 1-1 tie.
Coach Duncan Ryhorchuk was very pleased. “We have a lot of work and conditioning to do, but for a pre-season tournament against top-quality opponents, I am feeling pretty good about the coming months.”
