BRIDGETOWN, N.S. — It was a hockey weekend in Bridgetown as teams from across the region battled for top spot in girls’ high school hockey and the right to go to Division 2 Provincials.
While Bridgewater’s Park View Lady Panthers trounced the Avon View Avalanche 6-2 to take gold in the final and the Regionals banner, the most riveting match of the eight-team tournament was the bronze medal game that saw Northeast Kings Education Centre come from behind to take an overtime 2-1 win over West Kings.
In that third-place battle, it was a stalemate until two minutes into the third period when Claire Bent scored from Faith Ernest to put West Kings up 1-0. And that’s the way most spectators thought the game would end as it went scoreless into the final minute. But Northeast Kings Education Centre’s MacKenzie Coade had other ideas. She took the puck from Rachel Sheffield and Lexi Harmes on the power play to tie it up with only 41 seconds left.
Just 44 seconds into a five-minute overtime frame, Sheffield grabbed a pass from Coade and deked the goaltender for the 2-1 NKEC win.
Gold Game
Kirsten Demone was in on every goal Park View scored in the 6-2 final against Avon View to take the banner in March 3 final.
She notched her first marker, with help from Franci Cochrane and MacKenzie Purvis, just four minutes into the game and put the Panthers up 2-0 just over a minute later in a solo effort.
The Avon View girls upped their game for the rest of the period and well into the second, but Demone and Cochrane set up Purvis with 8:58 left and Purvis from Demone made it 4-0 two minutes later. Demone completed her hat trick with less than five minutes left in the frame with a penalty shot that she took right to the net before deking the Avon View keeper.
The Avalanche got on the board with 2:32 left in the period when Brittany Poole scored from Zoey Rafuse.
Five minutes into the third period, Rachel Kini got the puck from Demone to score a power play goal to make it 6-1 for the Bridgewater squad.
But Avon View wasn’t finished. Rafuse knocked one in on her own with nine minutes remaining in the game.
Other Games
Friday, March 1
Central Kings 2 vs Bridgetown 1
Avon View 3 vs NKEC 1
Middleton 2 vs West Kings 3
Park View 3 vs Barrington 2
NKEC 8 vs Bridgetown 1
Avon View 5 vs Central Kings 0
Park View 3 vs Middleton 0
Barrington 1 vs West Kings 6
Saturday, March 2
Avon View 7 vs Bridgetown 0
Central Kings 0 vs NKEC 2
Barrington 0 vs Middleton 5
West Kings 1 vs Park View 5
