EDITOR'S NOTE: The following was submitted by Chris Vogels.
SACKVILLE, N.B. – The TRHS Lady Titans travelled to Perth-Andover to participate in the Southern Victoria High School Lady Viking Hockey Valhalla tournament over the weekend. This season the Titans have played in the highly-competitive AAA Eastern Conference of the New Brunswick High School Female Hockey League, arguably the toughest division in the province. TRHS is a young team and the high level of hockey has demanded that players elevate their game and, despite not earning a lot of victories, the quality of play has improved drastically over the course of the season. It was hoped that the Valhalla tournament would prove to be a marker of where the team stands in the province at the AA level as it featured teams who are from schools similar in size to TRHS. It turns out they are a pretty good team as they won the tournament in convincing fashion.
Game one pitted the Titans against the North and South Esk Regional High School Cobras of Sunny Corner. The Sackville squad scored three unassisted goals in the game as Alyssa Landry and Miriam Hicks scored in the first period and Mackenzie Allen completed the scoring in the last frame to make the final score 3-0. Kim Cadman recorded the shutout with Allen being named player of the game.
TRHS’ opponent in the second game was the host team, the Southern Victoria High School Vikings. It took them a period to get rolling but they eventually found the back of the net in the second period with the first goal from Sarah Lowerison, assisted by Landry and Delaney Acton. Eventual player of the game, Meredith Hicks, scored with Landry drawing the lone assist quickly followed by Emma Vogels burying a strong shot from the point off a nice face-off win by Abbey Morice who was credited with an assist. Meredith Hicks added her second of the game in the third with Alexa Estabrooks setting up the goal and finally, Acton scored with Erin Carr and Landry assisting on the goal. Cadman picked up her second shutout of the tournament in the 5-0 victory.
Remarkably, of the 15 players playing for the Titans, only five have played high school hockey before this season. Part of the team’s significant improvement has been the steady development of the rookies and they figured prominently in the third game against the Carleton North High School Stars of Florenceville. First-year player, Shelby Hicks took full advantage of her first career start in net, allowing only one goal in Sackville’s 2-1 victory. The offense was led by the rookies, Carr with a goal and an assist, Miriam Hicks potted the second goal, while Vogels and Morice had an assist each. Acton, the only veteran on the scoresheet, had one assist. Shelby Hicks made numerous quality saves on her way to earning player of the game.
The host Vikings were the Titans’ opponents in the semi-finals and Sackville quickly disposed of them 5-0 to advance to the finals. Goal scorers were Morice with two, Landry, Acton and Alexa Estabrooks, which was the speedy defenceman’s first of the season. Lowerison and Acton had two assists each while Miriam Hicks and Carr had one apiece. Cadman recorded her third shutout of the tournament while Acton picked up player-of-the-game honours.
In the finals, the Sunny Corner Cobras stood between the Titans and their second tournament victory of the season having won the Middleton Regional High School tournament in November. Despite outplaying the Cobras for two periods, the game remained scoreless as the Cobras’ goalie turned away all Titans’ shots. Early in the third period, Sackville’s top line found the back of the net as Landry scored with helpers from Lowerison and Acton. With timely saves from Cadman and a shutdown defense, the Titans were able to preserve the lead and take the banner with a 1-0 victory. Player-of-the-game honours went to Landry.
The tournament win was highlighted by a balanced offensive performance as 10 different players scored a goal coupled with superb defense as the team allowed just a single goal in five games. The Titans’ exceptional goaltender Kim Cadman, who remarkably did not allow a goal in four games, was named the tournament MVP.
