Beattie nets hat trick as St. Thomas defeats Sarnia in OWHA Novice C final
Tuesday, April 10, 2018
St. Thomas Panthers, Ontario Women's Hockey Association Novice C champions, are Karis Beattie, Emma Bovin, Claire Crow, Georgia Cusick, Payton Eldred, Emily Ellis, Lauren Kempster, Deanna Lale, Brynn McLeod, Sadie Payne, Brooklyn Smith, Olivia Smith, Kaydence Thibert, Shae Watson, Rachel Wilkinson, head coach Mark Payne, assistant coach Jeff Crow, assistant coach Kurt Watson, manager Daemon Wilkinson. (photo / courtesy St. Thomas Panthers)
By Rob J. Ross
TORONTO, ON - It is one of the most incredible seasons in St. Thomas Panthers' history.
With an overall record of 40-3-5, including a league title, the Panthers' novice C team concluded a spectacular campaign, with an undefeated run, at the Ontario Women's Hockey Association (OWHA) provincial championship.
Karis Beattie, continuing her season long scorching of goalies, had a hat trick and Sadie Payne with the winner, as the Panthers dumped rival Sarnia Lady Sting, 4-2, in the OWHA Novice C gold medal final, at SB Pond arena, April 8.
"They were screaming and yelling, hugging for five minutes. Some were crying," Panthers' head coach Mark Payne said, describing the moments of celebration following the final buzzer. "The girls were pumped for the final."
St. Thomas opened the scoring, but Sarnia quickly knotted the affair. The Panthers took over in the second period with three goals.
St. Thomas and Sarnia knew each other well from 10 previous meetings, but the Panthers dominated the Lady Sting, with a record of eight wins and two ties.
The gold medal victory completed a 6-0 run over three days, at the provincial event.
Beattie had a hat trick and Olivia Smith, one goal, in a 4-2 win over Goulbourn, in the semifinals.
The toughest opponent of the tournament may have been Kemptville, a 2-1 win during the quarter-finals.
"It was back and forth. They (Kemptville) had a couple big, strong D-men," Payne said. "Brooklyn stepped up with some big saves and Karis and Emma Bovin had a goal each."
St. Thomas Panthers stand during a moment of silence for the Humboldt Broncos, prior to the OWHA Novice C final. There were 15 daisies around center ice, in memory of the 15 lives lost when the Broncos' team bus and a semi truck collided at an intersection. (photo / courtesy St. Thomas Panthers)
Panthers' goalie Brooklyn Smith, who had more shutouts during the season than the NHL's top two goose-egg producers, Pekka Rinne and Andrei Vasilevsky combined, played the entire provincial tournament with a broken thumb on her blocker hand.
"We made adjustments to her stick, so she could hold on to it. We were nervous, but she's a tough kid and she played terrific," said Payne, adding Smith had no intention of not being between the pipes. "She wanted to play. You couldn't pry her equipment off of her."
St. Thomas dominated their pool opponents, shelling Sault Ste. Marie, 12-0, blanking Wilmot, 4-0 and downing Peterborough, 4-1.
"The girls were confident and some of them were just starting to play their best hockey," Payne said. "Deanna Lale, Rachel Wilkinson, Emily Ellis, Kaydence Thibert, Brynn McLeod and Georgia Cusick, they were our role players and they started to gel during our (Western Ontario Girls Hockey League) playoffs and pulled that right through to provincials."
Beattie led the Panthers with 11 goals and four assists, for 15 points, in the tournament. Payne had seven goals and four assists and Bovin, six goals, five assists.
"She scored a lot of goals. She was a girl on a mission," said Payne, of Beattie, a student at Mitchell Hepburn elementary school.
"Shae Watson and Payton Eldred were as tough as tough can be against the top players on each team and Lauren (Kempster) and Claire (Crow), two of our younger defencemen, were an unbelievable presence on the ice."
The Panthers rode the momentum from winning the WOGHL title two weeks earlier, defeating Mitchell in the final.
Twice during the season, the Panthers had nine game winning streaks and ended the year on a eight game ride.
Their preseason goal was a provincial appearance, although the coaches weren't sure of the team's potential.
"At tryouts we didn't know. We had five or six returning from last year's team. We soon realized those kids had more confidence being the older players on the team. They adapted, learned and they had this crazy work ethic which was unbelievable," Payne said. "Our rookie Panthers improved as the season went on, game by game, practice by practice. By the end, they were filling roles that needed to be filled."
St. Thomas Panthers' Karis Beattie, left and
goalie Brooklyn Smith, with the OWHA Novice C
banner.
(photo / courtesy St. Thomas
Panthers)
There were questions about defence early in the season, but assistant coaches Jeff Crow and Kurt Watson took on the task, solidifying the back-end and teaching how to defend in all three zones.
"Jeff and Kurt taught the girls how to play defence, tough defence. Half-way through the year we were solid back there and we had such a presence from our forwards helping our D," Payne said. "The girls were getting confident game by game."
Contributing to the Panthers' success throughout the season, included Mark and Mike Ellis and Scott Stafford, from Ellis Hockey Detail and goalie coaches Kelly Campbell and Paul Gibson, also an assistant coach with the St. Thomas Stars.
Watching Sadie from behind the bench provided Payne memorable moments.
"When you're able to coach your daughter and all of her friends, it makes it super special. You spend so much time with the kids and their families," said Payne.
"It was quite a run."
The Novice C gold adds to a solid collection of OWHA medals by Panthers' teams in recent years.
In 2015, the atom B Panthers brought home silver, sandwiched by bronze medals, by the peewee BB team in 2014 and the Novice Cs in 2016.
The Novice C team had the top result of five St. Thomas teams at the 2018 provincials.
The Panthers placed fourth, losing in the midget C bronze medal game, 1-0, to the Thunder Bay Fury. Brockville, the eventual gold medalist, edged the Panthers, 2-1, in the semifinals.
In Bantam BB action, the Panthers went 2-0-1 in pool play, but lost a quarter-final qualifying game, 1-0, to Waterloo.
The Atom A Panthers lost in their quarters, 6-3, to the Niagara Rapids, following a 1-1-1 pool record.
In Bantam A, the Panthers
failed to advance from their pool.