THUNDER BAY, ON – Sault College was the first team lined up for the Topper’s Midget A Queens at the Confederation College Caribou Coach Classic. A scoreless draw held for the first 10 minutes of the game until the Queens jumped out 2-0 in dramatic fashion with goals by Sibley Duckert and Kailey Swerhun just 15 seconds apart. Sault College though would bring it back to within one with a goal in the last 40 seconds. In the second period the Queens would match their output popping in another two goals on efforts by Jocelyn Wojciechowski and Cassandra Carangi. Sault would keep pace with another late period goal but it would be the best they could manage as Thunder Bay’s Kayla Stein would score once more in a 5-2 victory.
Friday afternoon, the Queens faced off against the Kenora Saints. Sidney Crocker would put Thunder Bay on the board with the only goal of the first period. Both teams would trade off goals in the second as Kenora would tie the game but Duckert would regain the lead shortly after for the Queens. The 2-1 lead looked like it may stand until Kenora notched a late goal to tie the game. 2-2 Final.
On Saturday morning, the Toppers Queens put their 1-0-1 record up against the Thunder Bay Midget Fury. An early goal by Jessie Scott would give the Queens the lead in this one but the Fury responded with a pair of goals by Brooke Herman to take a 2-1 lead. Shortly after going down though, the Queens would tie it back up as Swerhun would score just under two minutes later. Both teams would go scoreless in the third which for the Queens meant a second straight 2-2 tie but it also meant an undefeated 1-0-2 record through the round robin.
In their Quarter-Final matchup, the Queens were placed against the Polar Ice who were having a strong tournament, dropping their previous game 3-2 against the Midget AA Queens. On their first shot of the game, Polar Ice would score to go up 1-0. The Midget A Queens would begin their comeback journey outplaying the Ice but kept getting denied at the net. Finally, with a face-off in their own end in the dying seconds of the game, the Queens would take the play 200 feet the other way and Sarah Grieve would score with just 9 seconds left on the clock to force overtime!
The 3-on-3 overtime format went scoreless until with 1:21 left the Polar Ice would score, winning the game and ending the Topper’s Queens weekend.
Despite the Quarter-Final loss, it was a great weekend for the Midget As, never dropping a game in regulation. They now throw their support behind the Midget AA Queens to secure gold against the Polar Ice today at noon.