U10 Paris Thunder Earn Gold at Lower Ontario Regionals

The Paris Ringette Association cleaned up at the Lower Ontario Regional Tournament in London this past weekend with both the U10 team and U16 Teams claiming Gold during their final games on Sunday, March 23rd. The U10 team beat London 3-2 in an exciting final game.  The U16 team won 3-0 against Cambridge.

By Casandra Turnbull

Managing Editor

It was a golden weekend for the U10/Fun3 Paris Ringette Team that won Gold at the Lower Ontario Regional Tournament in London this past weekend. On route to the final game, Paris beat London 4-2 in the first-round robin game, with goals coming from Ali Hall, Grace Amy, Grace Brooks and Quinn Hodgson and one assist to Grace A. Saturday morning the team played a tough Richmond Hill team in what would be their only loss of the weekend. Merit Van Der Kooy fended off 29 shots, and Alex and Quinn H both scored but it wasn’t enough to catch their opponents in a 4-2 loss. The final game of round robin play put Paris against St. Catharines, and a decisive win was necessary to move to the finals. The team understood the mission as they came out of the bench on fire, scoring three goals in the first period. They added two more in the second period to secure a 5-1 win. Alex, Skylar and Quinn H (3) scored, with assists to Blakely and Skyler. Merit turned away another 32 shots to hold down the win. There was no shortage of enthusiasm in the final game as Paris laid it all on the line during the championship game against London. Paris jumped out to a two-goal lead in the first period with markers from Ali, assisted by Margaret Briggs and Grace A, assisted by Ali. London got one by in the second to close the gap, but Paris responded quickly with its third goal from Quinn H. The team held down a 3-1 lead until the dying seconds of the game when London fired one in to make it a truly exciting final. Paris took possession of the ring and burned the clock to hold on to the win. The weekend tournament was the perfect finish to a season full of immense growth for this young team – and young is not an exaggeration. Since there were not enough skaters to form a U8/Fun2 Paris team this season, several skaters played up in the U10 division, a couple of them graduating from the learn to skate program last fall. Despite the range in age, the team forged new friendships and grew together, with the older players guiding the younger ones. Together, they pulled off some big wins when it mattered the most and played competitively in both the year end Regional Tournament but also the Dorchester Tournament over March Break. Quinn Perry and Ina Kocic developed new skills and gained tremendous confidence as first-time players. Parker Hodgson and Margaret Briggs both stepped up their game as underage second year players, showing teams their ability to get in and fight for the ring. Skylar Morris and Blakely Berkmortel both snagged some goals this season, skating hard and never giving up in their pursuit to find the back of the net. Anna Kipp and Olivia Turnbull were forces to reckon with on defense, fiercely protecting the goalie and turning away opponent shots with their quick thinking and fast reflexes. Grace Amy, Grace Brooks, Ali Hall, and Quinn Hodgson led the offensive lines with goal after goal all season, showing sheer grit and determination to keep Paris in every game. Skylar Morris and Celia Donn really stepped up to fill in net when required and both showed remarkable growth and confidence as they learned new skills between the pipes. Finally, huge recognition goes out to Merit Van Der Kooy for her outright talent in net. She was arguably the best goalie across all the teams at Regionals this past weekend, if not all season. ‘Holey Moley what a goalie’, is a huge understatement. Her incredible ability to predict player behaviour combined with her reflexes made her a true pleasure to watch from the stands. The season’s success is also attributed to volunteer coaches who stepped up to teacher the game and never game up on the girls. Congratulations everyone on a great season.