By Jacob Robinson, The Londoner Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Between the heart-stopping finishes, buzzer beating shots and constant upsets, the Provincial Women's Hockey League Playoffs must've felt like March Madness to the London Junior Devilettes.
As the 6th seed of the 16 team loop, the Devilettes topped both Waterloo (11) and Durham West (3) to earn a spot at this past weekend's Final Four at the Mattamy Athletic Centre, a.k.a. the former Maple Leaf Gardens. In simply qualifying for the league's showcase event, the Devilettes made organization history.
“It's just a great feeling to know we were the first (London) junior team to ever make it this far,” said forward and Mt. Brydges native Kyla Crouse. “Throughout the year we were actually known as the underdogs, people didn't think we had what it took to get as far as we did. So it was actually a big example of what a great organization the London juniors are and that puts forward a lot of positive thoughts for next year and teams to come.”
It wasn't as though London was just happy to be at the Final Four either. The Memorial Cup format gave them a shot at the league's other top finishers during the preliminary round – one that produced wins over both Mississauga and Whitby, the top two seeds. A 3-2 victory over the latter in Game 1 gave London a serious boost of confidence, one that allowed Brittany Howard to tie the score with one second to go against Mississauga and earn a 4-3 overtime victory thanks to a goal from Tia Kipfer.
“Beating (Whitby) in the first game gave us a lot of extra motivation into the other games (and) playing in the building gave us a lot of extra hype,” said Crouse, an SDCI student. “Getting through the first game that gave us a lot of extra encouragement to keep going farther.”
Backed by Under-18 Canadian and World Championship goaltender Jessica Dodds and heir to the throne Carley Molnar, the Devilettes were able to book a spot in the winner-take-all final against Whitby. Though the Wildcats got a measure of revenge with a 2-1 win, it didn't take long for London to turn the disappointment of a loss into a sense of accomplishment.
“We tried hard to tie it up at the end and coming that close playing against the top team, that was kind of hard at first to face right after the game but it didn't take too long, a couple minutes,” said Clare McKellar, the team's leader in playoff scoring with 15 points (10 goals, 5 assists) in 11 games. “After they brought out the medals and gave them to us, that's when (we felt) it was a great accomplishment.”
The silver medal was especially impressive given where the Devilettes roster had come from. Many had never seen the second round of the playoffs and even in making the Final Four, the group was ranked last among attending teams.
“The past two years we never got out of the first round, so we wanted to at least get to that (far), said McKellar, a St. Thomas Aquinas student. “We worked on our structure, all our drills, and we really picked up the pace in practice gearing up for the playoffs.”
The Final Four tournament was far from the end for the Devilettes team and its individual players. The club is in Ottawa for the provincial championship this weekend and 11 girls on the roster will move on to the post-secondary ranks in both Canada and the US next fall. A big reason for the group's success as a whole is thanks to head coach Christina Jolliffe and her staff.
“They've done a great job. (The coaches) have completely turned this team around,” McKellar said. “I joined three years ago and from then to now, everything is different. The dynamics, on the ice and off the ice completely changed for the better — I think and you can tell from our success.”
London's roster has girls from various locals outside of London, including St. Thomas, Stratford, Sarnia, Brantford, Woodstock and even Sault Ste. Marie. Crouse said the makeup of the team provided a formula for success.
“This team is like a family to me, it's just like another home (at the rink) and another place where I can be with my sisters. We've accomplished a lot,” she said.
“We have a great group of girls with lots of talent, different types of talent and different types of skills which a team always needs.”
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Twitter: @LondonerJacob