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Jr. Barracudas Newsletter No. 1 Stoney Creek University Showcase September 13 -15, 2019

The Burlington Barracudas had a fantastic weekend at the Stoney Creek University Showcase this past weekend, September 13-15, 2019.

The Showcase was made up of the best Intermediate AA girls hockey teams in North America with a total of 64 teams in 8 divisions of 8 teams. Teams this year came from places such as the PWHL (the Ontario Womens Hockey League), British Columbia, Quebec, Buffalo, Rochester, Connecticut, St. Louis, Boston, Detroit, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Alberta, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Anaheim, Milwaukee, Dallas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Manitoba and Washington.

To qualify for the medal rounds, (Gold, Silver and Bronze rounds) each team played a round robin of 4 games against selected teams within their division. The teams in each division were then ranked 1st to 8th. All 1st place teams proceeded to the Gold round and played through a quarter-final, a semi-final and then a Gold Medal game. The Silver round was made up of the 4 top 2nd place teams and the Bronze round was made up of the 5th to 8th 2nd placed teams. Both the Silver and Bronze rounds played a semi-final and then went on to play the Silver Medal or the Bronze Medal Championship game.

The Barracudas were placed in the Jenner Division and played against the New Jersey Colonials and Boston Jr. Eagles on Friday, and then played against the Philadelphia Jr. Flyers and Meijer Elite (Detroit) on Saturday.

The Barracudas went through the round robin without a loss and a record of 3 wins and one overtime tie. As a result the Barracudas earned a 2nd place finish in their division and a 5th place ranking among the second placed teams. This was good for 13th place overall and a birth to the Bronze Championship round. In addition the Barracudas scored 13 goals in the round robin with only one goal scored against them. This record included 3 impressive shutout games.

Unfortunately the Barracudas did not have their full roster participating in the Showcase as both Leah MacSween and Kate Lengyel were injured at the NAHA Labour Day Tournament. However, to support the team on defence, Julia Stephen from the Burlington Bantam AA team was called up for the duration of the Showcase.

Maddie Suitor #9

The Barracudas started off strong with a 5-0 win over the New Jersey Colonials. Tijana Miskovic started off the scoring with goals that followed by Hayden Serniuk, Olivia Muhn, Maddie Suitor and Christina Walker. Goals were assisted by Kyla Josifovic, Quinn Dawson, Clare Malhinha and Dylan Jessiman. Tia Glube played a strong game in net to get our first clean sheet! This game was a great display of a full team effort and served as a sign of good things to come in the Showcase.

Elizabeth Gauthier #15

Game two had the Barracudas continuing where they left off with another 5-0 win over the Boston Jr. Eagles. Tia Chan earned the shutout after a number of stellar saves throughout the contest. Christina Walker netted 2 goals in the game along with goals scored by Hayden Serniuk, Maddie Suitor and Rhys Cole-Ashbury. Goals were assisted by Quinn Dawson and Mackenzie Lauretti.

Clare Malhinha #19

The Barracudas entered game 3 against the Philadelphia Jr. Flyers with a lot of confidence however, after outshooting the Flyers, the Barracudas were held off the game sheet throughout the early part of the game. Eventually the gates opened up and the Barracudas netted 2 goals to win 2-0, which saw Tia Glube earning our 3rd shutout. The first goal was scored by Olivia Muhn from Mackenzie Lauretti, and the second goal was scored by Kyla Josifovic from Paige Greco and Maddie Suitor.

Mackenzie Lauretti #71

Game 4 was our hardest competition of the round robin as we faced Meijer Elite who defeated the Stoney Creek Jr. Sabres 3-1 the day before. This game would set the stage for deciding whether the Barracudas would earn first place in their division as long as the game resulted in a win and Meijer was held off the game sheet.

After a scoreless first two periods and with 2 minutes played into the 3rd period the Barracudas hit the back of the net first when Mackenzie Lauretti scored a beautiful goal from a cross-crease pass from Elizabeth Gauthier. Dylan Jessiman was also credited with an assist when she found Gauthier breaking free into the Meijer offensive zone.

Unfortunately late in the 3rd period the Barracudas could not hold onto the lead as Meijer netted the goal that would put the Barracudas out of the chance for 1st place in the division. The game then ended in a 1-1 tie after one overtime period. The tie however allowed the Barracudas to clinch 2nd place in their division.

Following the game, the Barracudas had to wait to learn where they would place among the 2nd place teams, which would determine whether they would be in the Silver Championship or the Bronze Championship. The decision came down to the last games played among the teams in the other divisions, and with one tied game compared to 4 other teams going 4-0, the Barracudas were set to play in the Bronze Championship with an earned 5th place among the 2nd placed teams.

Dylan Jessiman #73

The Bronze Championship semi-final game was played against the Edge School Mountaineers out of Alberta. The Mountaineers are a strong, well coached team and the Barracudas initially found themselves having to increase their compete level and dig deep to get the first goal of the game, which was netted by Dylan Jessiman. Goals were followed by Clare Malhinha, Mackenzie Lauretti and Christina Walker. Assists came from Rhys Cole-Ashbury, Elizabeth Gauthier, Mackenzie Lauretti, Paige Greco and Julia Stephen. With this win the Barracudas earned the chance to challenge for the Bronze Championship Banner!!

The Burlington Jr. Barracudas Coached by Kevin Greco, Renata Fast, Kylie Richardson, Karl Lauretti, Frank Kastelic, Jamie Suitor and Brooke Gibson along with Athletic Therapist Aiden Hodge.

The Bronze medal game caught the Barracudas off gaurd as the fast Dallas Stars Elite team came out strong. As a result the Stars scored two quick goals and had the Barracudas on their heels. The Barracudas then had to dig deep and increase their level of play for a chance to turn the momentum of the game. The momentum of the game did eventually change with a key first goal by Clare Malhinha followed by a hard blue line snapshot goal by Olivia Muhn, and then a scramble goal by Christina Walker. Elizabeth Gauthier added the 4th goal from an impressive fast shot right off a faceoff in the Stars end. Assists were provided by Hayden Serniuk, Mackenzie Lauretti, Paige Greco, Maddie Suitor, Dylan Jessiman along with goal scorers Elizabeth Gauthier and Christina Walker who added assists of their own.

It was an impressive comeback by the Barracudas to win the Bronze Championship Banner game against a fast Stars team, which should serve the Barracudas well in future competition.

Overall the Barracudas went undefeated in the Showcase with a 5-0-1 record earning them the Bronze Championship Banner and 13th overall in the Showcase out of 64 teams. The Barracudas saw 3 shutouts, with 21 goals scored and only 4 goals scored against. This was a tremendous effort for one of the youngest teams by average age in the Showcase and the first year of playing Jr. Hockey by many of the players on the team.

What is up next for the Barracudas?

Next up the Barracudas will continue their PWHL league play with their next game this coming Friday September 20th in Barrie. The home opener will follow on Saturday September 28th at 8:00PM against the Ottawa Lady Sens at the Mainway Arena - Pad A. The home opener will be an exciting event with prizes, Gift of Giving Back food drive, and of course exciting hockey!! Our full schedule can be accessed here #GoCudas!!

Our tournament schedule will have us in Detroit on October 25-27, followed by Kitchener and Toronto. We look forward in providing you updates to those tournaments!!