ONTARIO BLUE ADVANCES TO SEMIS WITH SHOOTOUT WIN
SURREY, B.C. – Kristen Richards (Toronto, Ont.) and Rylee Smith (Hagersville, Ont.) of Ontario Blue both
fired the puck passed the Team Atlantic goal line in shootout action Friday morning to secure their team a
spot in Saturday’s semi-finals.
But while the victory was sweet it wasn’t easy for the central Canadian squad, which had to deal with an
impressive comeback by Team Atlantic and solve netminder Carmen MacDonald (Pictou, N.S.), who stopped 39
shots over four periods of play including an overtime period that had the crowd at South Surrey Arena going
wild.
Amanda Lucky (Kanata, Ont.) kicked off one of the most exciting games of the tournament with the first
goal for Ontario Blue, using a pass from Smith to put her team up on the scoreboard at 15:06 in the first
period.
Melanie Desrochers (Welland, Ont.) made it 2-0 for Ontario Blue during an early power play in the second.
But the rest of the period was all Team Atlantic, with Jenna Pitts (Antigonish, N.S.) putting one up on the
scoreboard and Alex Normore (Bedford, N.S.) scoring while her team had a 5-on-3 advantage.
The third was evenly matched, with Sarah Davis (Paradise, N.L.) giving Team Atlantic a short-lived 3-2
lead less than one into the period, and Ontario Blue’s Danielle Gagne (Brampton, Ont.) tying it up to send
the game into five minutes of overtime.
But five minutes of fast-paced play didn’t find a winning team, forcing the shootout that decided the
game. Team Atlantic plays an undetermined team Saturday morning, but it’s Ontario Blue that takes to the ice
in the afternoon for semi-final action. | 
