Panthers take WOGHL Novice title

  Bovin scores twice as St. Thomas defeats Mitchell, 4-1, in the Division One final

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

By Rob J. Ross 

AYLMER, ON. - It is more hardware for their trophy case.

The St. Thomas Novice C Panthers increased their wave of momentum towards the Ontario Women's Hockey Association provincial championship, by winning the Western Ontario Girls Hockey League Novice Division 1 title, defeating the Mitchell Meteors, in the final.

Emma Bovin with two goals, Georgia Cusick and Sadie Payne, scored as St. Thomas took the series in three games, with a 4-1 win, at the East Elgin Community Centre.

"Just a team effort," Panthers' head coach Mark Payne said. "The girls played awesome defensively. We didn't give up much. We kept their girls contained to the outside."

Following a 1-1 tie in the opener, the Panthers blanked the Meteors, 2-0, in game two, back-stopped by goalie Brooklyn Smith. Bovin and Karis Beattie scored.

"Our goaltending was fabulous. She (Smith) is unbelievable. She is the best goalie in the league," said Payne. "The girls are focused and competitive. It's easy (to coach) when you have five, six, seven leaders on the team, who bring it every night."

St. Thomas finished first in the WOGHL Division 1, with an 11-2-1 record. The Panthers have just one loss in their past 14 games and are 42-9-4 overall, heading into the provincials, April 13-15, in Toronto.

"Karis Beattie brings the heart and soul to the team. She never takes a shift off. She never takes a practice off. She's just a complete player. We have two work horses who take the pressure off Karis and Emma up front, that's Sadie Payne and Olivia Smith," said Payne. "Our third weapon is Emma. She's clutch in the slot and always scores a big goal for us. We have two kids who made our team a lot stronger this year, Shae Watson and Peyton Eldred."

Consistency is a strength for the Panthers and "when Karis and Emma can score a goal a game, it sets a good pace for a team."

Making a few early season adjustments on the blue-line, set the course for the season that includes medals at four tournaments.

"We moved Peyton Eldred from forward to defence and we improved instantly. The improvement of Watson has brought an unbelievable balance for our defence."

St. Thomas won at their home event, Panthers on the Prowl and brought back silver medals, from Ancaster, the Brampton Cougars' Friendship Festival and the Brantford Walter Gretzky tournament.

At provincials, it's four pools of four teams, with the two top in each pool, advancing to quarter-final action. In with St. Thomas, is Peterborough, Sault Ste. Marie and Wilmot.

Four fellow Panthers' teams are also heading to the OWHA provincials -  bantam A, peewee BB, atom A and midget C.