Nipissing Ringette takes silver

The Nipissing Ringette team came up one win short of a gold medal – yet again – losing in the finals to Guelph, who were the only team Nipissing couldn’t beat this season. The last games of the season were played in Niagara Falls this a few weeks ago. Nipissing defeated Laurentian 8-1 to open the weekend, with goals by Alyssa Stewart (2), Jessica Johnston, Taylor Kaye, Melanie Harkes, Sydney Ives, Rose Cybulski and Kelsea Stewart.

The second game of the weekend was the best for the locals.  In an exciting game that involved a great comeback, Nipissing managed a 4-4 tie against arch rival Guelph. In typical Guelph-Nipissing style, the first period was close with Guelph taking a 2-1 lead on singles by Emily Forbes and Stacey Forbes. Alyssa Stewart responded for Nipissing.

In the second period, Guelph scored at the nine minute mark to take a 3-1 lead. With 4:07 left in the game, Melanie Harkes scored to bring Nipissing within a goal, but Guelph’s Stacey Forbes scored only seven seconds later to restore the two goal cushion.  With only 57 seconds to play, Sydney Ives was the hero, scoring a great goal to bring Nipissing within one.

Nipissing pulled their goalie and put the pressure on, with Mel Harkes scoring the tying goal with seven seconds left on the clock.

Francom said he can see the potential in the Laurentian team, but right now, they are a step behind the top teams in the ringette loop.

“Laurentian is where we were four years ago – a weak team that is trying to grow a program.  I hope they keep going because they have a core of good players there,” said Francom.

After a big win and a tie to open the weekend, Francom was pretty happy with his team’s effort overall, especially coming back to earn a tie against Guelph.

“Emotionally, that was our best game of the year.  Not just keeping our composure when we were down, but also the great elation at finally taking a point from Guelph and in such great style,”  Francom explained.

The team suffered a bit of a letdown later that day, tying Brock 4-4, but giving them enough points to make the medal round. Goal scorers in that match were Alyssa Stewart (2), Sydney Ives and Deanna Noel.

In the crossover game, Nipissing met Laurentian and handed them a 6-1 loss, allowing Nipissing to continue to the gold medal game. Sydney Ives got a hat trick, Alyssa Stewart scored two and Mel Harkes got a single.

In the gold medal game, Guelph took an early 3-0 lead by the end of the first period. Nipissing scrambled back and got to within a goal on goals by Alyssa Stewart but then Stacey Forbes once more stepped up for Guelph, restoring a two goal cushion over the locals.  Late in the period, a nasty collision at center ice put Nipissing’s Aly Stewart out of the game as well as a Guelph player.

“It was totally innocent – two players going full tilt for a loose ring, then a collision that was almost directly head on” said Francom said of the play.
The Guelph player was unconscious and Stewart was clearly in plenty of pain.  It took about five minutes before either player could be taken from the ice for further attention.  Stewart suffered a concussion.  The Guelph player’s status is unknown at this time.

Both teams played with less vigour after that, clearly concerned about their teammates.  Guelph scored one more goal, with the final score 5-2 in Guelph’s favour.

Guelph was the number one team, followed by Nipissing, Brock, Laurentian and Western.

Overall, Nipissing had a solid season with quite a bit of success, but were unable to get over the hurdle of beating Guelph, but playing them so often gave the Nipissing players and coaches a chance to see where they want to be in the future overall, Nipissing had a solid season with quite a bit of success, but were unable to get over the hurdle of beating Guelph, but playing them so often gave the Nipissing players and coaches a chance to see where they want to be in the future.

“It was a pretty good for a first year. As a group of teams, we decided we would try to get an official league going, with league games taking place during tournaments through the season. Of the eight schools that host ringette in Ontario, five schools participated in the league, and Nipissing finished second,” Francom said. “We are hoping to get the other schools on board in the next year or two so that we can become an official OUA sport. Ringette is an excellent team sport and it would be great to have official recognition at the provincial level.”