Thunder Are Golden In London
The Chatham Thunder celebrate their tournament win – Contributed Photo
Chatham started strong with a 6-0 shutout of Whitby. Kate Thompson scored 2 goals and an assist, while Hannah Wilson, Emilie Newman, Julia Haggerty, and Shelby Ritzer also scored. Kaitlyn Sammon racked up four assists and Emma Winkler added a single helper.
Facing Dorchester in their second game, the Thunder put up a dominant 9-2 performance. Emilie Newman put on a clinic, leading her team with 5 goals and a helper, while Kate Thompson had a hat trick. Shelby Ritzer had a goal and 2 assists. Sammon added a pair of assists, and singles went to Julia Haggerty, Allison Newman, and Myah Walters.
Emilie Newman continued her dominance in game three, scoring 4 goals in a 7-0 win over St.Mary’s. Single tallies went to Hannah Wilson, Myah Walters, and Kaitlyn Sammon. Thompson had 2 assists, while Haggerty, Winkler, Wilson, and Walters each had one.
In the semi-final, the Thunder faced the Goderich Ice Crushers, but cruised to an easy 10-0 win. Walters led with a hat trick, while Wilson and Winkler each scored 2 goals. Allison Newman scored her first of the tournament, and Kate Thompson added another 2 goals and a helper. Haggerty chipped in with 3 assists, and Sammon added 2. Emilie Newman again had a memorable game offensively scoring 1 goal and adding 5 assists.
The final saw the Chatham Thunder face an also undefeated Niagara Falls team. Niagara took the lead a couple minutes past half. Kate Thompson answered a few minutes later on a slick feed from Sammon. Emma Winkler scored what turned out to be the game winner on a breakaway with 5 minutes to go. Niagara wouldn’t give up, pulling their goalie with over 2 minutes to play. Goalie Natalie Haggerty shut them down with several big saves as the clock ticked down. Myah Walters scored into an empty net and the final was 3-1 Chatham.
Emilie Newman led the tournament in scoring with 12 goals and 6 assists.
In net, Natalie Haggerty faced 72 shots over 5 games and allowed only 3 goals and earning 3 shutouts as well.