Chatham Outlaws are Tournament Champions in Guelph

In Front (laying down )  :  Larissa McFadden 
Front row (Kneeling , left to right) : Lauren Ouimet, Haley Smith, Ally Oulds, Shayna Daly, Abi Hansen, Sydney Gillier, Alli Oliphant
Back row (Standing, left to right ) : Manager John Foster, Head Coach Todd Daly, Miah St. Pierre, Brooke Foster, Katelyn Erickson, Kate Brady, Alyssa Coutts, Mia Brooks, Assistant Coach Dan Oliphant, Hilary Pomajba, Trainer Kris Oulds 

In their last tournament of the year, the Chatham Outlaws PeeWee B’s showed their stuff, winning it all at the Guelph Thunder Tournament.

The Outlaws played their first game of the tourney Friday afternoon against the Ancaster Avalanche. Chatham came out very flat on their 1st shift and were trapped in their own end when they were called for a penalty. Ancaster took only seconds to capitalize on the powerplay and went up 1 – 0 only 1 minute into the game. That was unfortunately the wake up call the Outlaws needed, as they controlled and dominated the game from then on out. Chatham outshot, outhustled and outworked the Avalanche but as so often happens, they could not beat the hot Avalanche goalie. The game would end with Chatham suffering a disappointing 1 – 0 loss.

Ancaster Avalanche – 1
Chatham Outlaws – 0

The Outlaws would look to bounce back early Saturday morning against the Burlington Barracudas. Chatham started out a little better than last game, but still took a few minutes to wake up and as a result found themselves down 1 – 0 early to the opportunistic Barracudas. Chatham would continue to battle and exchange scoring chances but were still unable to get a goal. Early in the 2nd period the Outlaws went down 2 – 0 as Burlington’s speedy wingers continued to give Chatham’s defense problems. Chatham again built up some momentum as Kate Brady took a breakout pass from Sydney Gillier and drove up the wing in on the Barracuda goal. Brady fired home a high wrister over the goalie’s glove hand to bring Chatham to within a goal.  Chatham played inspired hockey the rest of the game, but eventually some breakdowns and loss of focus in the 3rd period led to 2 more Burlington goals and Chatham was dealt their 2nd loss of the tournament, 4 – 1.
 
Burlington Barracudas    4
Chatham Outlaws          1          Goal  :  Kate Brady (Chatham)    Assist: Sydney Gillier (Chatham)
 

Chatham would play their 3rd round robin game against the host Guelph Thunder, later that evening and needed to win to advance to the semifinals or they would be going home. Chatham knew what was at stake and despite a sloppy scoreless 1st period, the Outlaws did not let up and eventually were rewarded with 2 goals in the 2nd period. Mia Brooks got the ball rolling as she fired a low hard shot from the point that beat the screened Guelph goalie. Kate Brady then netted her second goal of the tourney as she tucked home a Haley Smith rebound to give Chatham the insurmountable lead they were looking for. The defence and goalie did the rest of the dirty work to keep the slate clean as they held the Thunder to only 5 shots in the game. Larissa McFadden gladly earned the shut-out and sealed the 2 – 0 win. The pool that Chatham was in had the Outlaws tied with another team with the same record and 1 team being eliminated with 2 ties. Chatham earned the top seed in their pool by virtue of the goals for and against tiebreaker.
 
 Chatham Outlaws     2         Goals:  1. Mia Brooks (Chatham)
                                                        2. Kate Brady (Chatham)  Assist : Haley Smith (Blenheim)
                                                       Shut-out : Larissa McFadden (Dresden)
   Guelph Thunder       0
 
The Outlaws would be playing the Toronto Leaside Wildcats on Sunday morning in the semifinals and once again were facing a win or go home scenario. Chatham were riding a new found confidence after getting their first win in their last 6 games against Guelph. Determined to show they were better than their round robin record would indicate, the Outlaws set out to show they belonged in the playoffs. Another scoreless and sloppy 1st period solved nothing, but Chatham again would keep building up momentum and get stronger as the game wore on. Early in the second period Haley Smith would put Chatham up 1 – 0 and provide a spark that would lead to another goal later in the period. Ally Oulds corralled a rebound off of a Kate Erickson shot from the blue line and buried the puck behind the Wildcat goalie. Chatham looked as though they would coast to an impressive victory, but a minor hiccup and defensive breakdown led to a Toronto goal that caused some nervousness as their lead was down to 1, with lots of time left in the 3rd. A strategic time out to calm the girls down and help them refocus saw Chatham ice the game away when Abi Hansen banged home a loose puck off of a Shayna Daly shot. The 3 – 1 win would send Chatham off to the finals riding a wave of momentum and confidence.
 
Chatham Outlaws               3         Goals : 1. Haley Smith (Blenheim)
                                                                 2. Ally Oulds (Chatham)   Assist : Katelyn Erickson (Chatham)
                                                                 3. Abi Hansen (Dutton)     Assist : Shayna Daly (Chatham)
Toronto Leaside Wildcats     1   
 

Chatham would find themselves matched up in the finals against the same Ancaster Avalanche who had beaten them 1 – 0 in the 1st game of the round robin. Ancaster knocked off the top seeded Burlington Barracudas in a shoot out after 2 OT periods, so they too were riding high on adrenaline and momentum. The game was similar to their earlier match as both teams came out swinging and exchanging scoring chances. Both goalies matched the other save for save and many times were called on to bail out their teammates. Chatham managed to kill off 4 penalties throughout the game including 1 stretch where they were down 2 players for over a minute. Chatham was also short 2 defenders as 1 was hurt earlier in the tournament and another went down injured midway through the final. Chatham managed to hang on and continued grinding out some offence and slowly wearing down their opposition. Larissa McFadden continued to make save after save to keep Chatham alive and in the game, and with little time remaining in the 3rd, the game still scoreless and looking more and more like it was going into overtime, Chatham showed the heart and grit that got them to the final. Haley Smith took an outlet pass from Miah St. Pierre and with her speed , she broke free in all alone on the Avalanche keeper. Smith managed to shoot the puck hard enough that it found it’s way past the dominant Ancaster goalie who only allowed 2 goals all tournament. The elated Outlaws side kept their composure with only 2 minutes remaining and their intense pressure and forechecking wouldn’t even let the Avalanche get their goalie pulled for an extra attacker. When time ran out, the Chatham Outlaws were victorious 1 – 0 and were crowned the 2011 Guelph Thunder PeeWee B Champions.
 
Chatham Outlaws         1    Goals : Haley Smith (Blenheim)   Assist : Miah St. Pierre (Chatham)
                                            Shut-out : Larissa McFadden (Dresden)
 
Ancaster Avalanche       0