Cambridge Still Shaking After Experiencing The Chatham Thunder
Chatham U16 Thunder
Coach John Thompson summed it up best afterwards, ” peed kills and they can’t catch us when we’re moving our best.”
Game 1 was against the Kitchener Wildcats Friday afternoon, The two teams played to a draw a week earlier and some animosity may have resonated from Chatham’s side. Chatham jumped out to a 4-1 lead after the first half, added another in the second and defensively shut the Wildcats down the rest of the way to a 5-1 win. In a balanced attack..Emilie Newman and Kaitlyn Sammon had a goal and assist. Natasha Anderson, Kate Thompson and Myah Walters each had a goal. Emma Winkler chipped in with two assists and single helpers went to Maya Haines and Hannah Wilson.
Game 2 saw the host Cambridge Turbos facing the Thunder. A see-saw first half had Chatham come out with a one goal lead, only to pour it on in the second half en route to a 6-0 victory. The versatility in the line-up continued to show with 5 different players scoring again. Thompson had two tallies. Jessica Turgeon, Walters and Wilson each filled the back of the net. Emilie Newman had a goal and assist. Anderson had 3 assists with singles going to Shelby Ritzer, Winkler, Sammon and Walters.
In Game 3 the Elora-Fergus Edge were the next to draw the Thunder’s wrath. The 8-3 outcome was misleading as the game was chippy and the Thunder had fallen into the trap of playing down to an opponent. Sure, they had a 4-1 lead at the half but playing two players down in the second half for a span of about 5 minutes isn’t the easiest path to victory. Allison Newman was on the ice defensively for a full four minutes straight at one point and her effort gets noticed HERE. Myah Walters led the offence with a hat-trick. Sammon had two goals and a helper. Thompson with a goal and two assists. Wilson with 1+1. Winkler with another 3 assists.Emilie Newman had the other goal. Ritzer had two helpers and singles went to Julia Haggerty and Allison Newman. The Thunder would have to wait until a late saturday game was over to find out who would challenge them in the final. The confident Edge team responded while shaking hands with “See you tomorrow.” Maybe not the approach you take with Chatham…
In the finals the Chatham Thunder faced the Elora-Fergus Edge. The Edge won the Saturday night tilt to have another crack at the Thunder.
The Thunder then went out and absolutely rocked the Edge 11-2. Chatham scored 8 times in a span of less than 8 minutes to start the game. Natasha Anderson, Emilie Newman, Hannah Wilson and Myah Walters each had 2 goals and an assist. Julia Haggerty and Kaitlyn Sammon each had a goal and two helpers. Shelby Ritzer with 1+1. Emma Winkler with two assists while singles went to Maya Haines and Allison Newman.
With all the scoring going on it was easy to overlook the steady goaltending of Natalie Haggerty. She made multiple big saves in each game and once again provided elite goaltending to the Thunder. She finished the tournament with a 0.916 save percentage and a 1.50 goals against average. Three of the goals she let in were while the team was short-handed and two more were during 4 on 4 play.
Myah Walters and Kaitlyn Sammon tied for the scoring title with 9 points each. The defensive quartet of Allison Newman, Maya Haines, Jessica Turgeon, and Shelby Ritzer were spectacular.
Chatham’s next game is January 19th at Erickson Arena at 2pm.
Pictured Above – Front row L-R- Maya Haines,Emma Winkler,Julia Haggerty,Allison Newman,Myah Walters,Emilie Newman,Kate Thompson. Middle row L-R- Shelby Ritzer,Jessica Turgeon,Hannah Wilson,Kaitlyn Sammon,Natasha Anderson,Natalie Haggerty. Back row – Coach John Thompson