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Panthers Big Cat U15B champs
Cochrane and Clark score in a 2-0 blanking of Chatham-Kent in final
September 16, 2024
By Rob J. Ross
ST. THOMAS - The St. Thomas U15BB Panthers started the hockey season off in golden style.
With only a few practices together, these Panthers went out and won gold at the St. Thomas Panthers Big Cat Showdown, blanking the Chatham-Kent Crunch, 2-0, in the U15B final Sunday at the Joe.
Tegan Cochrane and Kailey Clark scored, while goalie Paige McMahon had the shutout.
"Winning this tournament has set the tone for the year," Panthers' head coach Shannon Jacques said. "These girls know what they are capable of and now we will build on those skills and hopefully have a really successful year."
The Panthers went undefeated over the three day tournament, winning four games and tying one, outscoring opponents, 12 to one.
"Our girls played hard right from puck drop. They fore-check hard which doesn't give our opponents time or space to move the puck," Jacques said. "Our defense is strong on the blue line which makes it very difficult for teams to break out on us. Our goalie is solid and made some big saves when we needed her to."
Jacques heads an all female coaching staff.
Both the Panthers U15A and U18BB teams were finalists.
The U15As lost in overtime, 2-1, to the Kitchener Lady Rangers. Emme Steen put the Panthers on the board. In a 2-1 win in the semifinals over Lucan, Alex Dolson and Skye Doxtator scored.
The U18BBs fell, 2-1, in a shootout to the Mississauga Hurricanes. Addison Korpan scored the Panthers' lone goal. St. Thomas finished 4-1.
St. Thomas lost in the U11A and U13A semifinals.
The U18B Panthers did not advance from pool play.
From Friday, September 13, to Sunday, the annual tournament featured 41 teams from 25 organizations, in eight divisions, played at the Joe, Memorial arena and the East Elgin Community Centre in Aylmer.
Next home tournament for the local girls hockey asssociation, is Panthers on the Prowl in early December.
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