2011 National Women's Under-18 Championship

ATLANTIC INTO SEMIFINALS WITH WIN OVER ONTARIO BLUE

SAGUENAY, Que. – Shannon MacAulay (Mount Herbert, P.E.I.) opened and closed the scoring to pace the offence as Team Atlantic advanced to the semifinals at the 2011 National Women’s Under-18 Championship with a 6-2 win over Ontario Blue on Friday afternoon.

Media Gallery | Buy photos at HockeyCanadaImages.ca

The victory sends Team Atlantic to the final four for the first time since 2007, while Ontario Blue, which won silver at the last tournament in 2009, won’t advance to Saturday’s semis.

Ontario Blue came up short despite firing 46 shots on goal, scoring only twice on Stefannie Moak (Middle Sackville, N.S), who stole the show for a second game in a row, making 44 saves to lead her team to victory. Moak has now made 77 saves in two games, both Atlantic wins.

Despite two first-period power plays, Team Atlantic could not capitalize with the man advantage, scoring its only goal of the first period at five-on-five when MacAulay slid the puck under the pads of Brianna Quade (Newcastle, Ont.). Both goaltenders were excellent during the first 20 minutes, but Moak was stellar, blocking all 16 shots she faced.

In the second period, Lady Luck did not smile on Ontario Blue, which hit the post after a well-orchestrated attack. As is often the case when a team misses a great opportunity, the opponent struck back – Catherine Tufts (Church Point, N.S.) picked up a rebound and put the puck in the net for a 2-0 lead. In the last minute of play in the period, following a great set-up by Savannah Newton (Middle Sackville, N.S.), Sarah Steele (Stratford, P.E.I.) gave Team Atlantic a 3-0 lead heading to the intermission.

Team Atlantic just kept on rolling in the third. Taylor Dale (Oromocto, N.B.) scored her team’s fourth unanswered goal. Ontario Blue seemed to come alive and Lindsey Allen (Toronto, Ont.) was finally able to put one past Moak, a task that had almost seemed impossible until then. Dale crushed any hope of a comeback by scoring her second of the period before Ontario Blue was able to add a second goal with almost six minutes left in the game.

MacAulay rounded out the scoring with an empty net goal.

The outcome of the other games later today will determine tomorrow’s match-ups. The semi-finals will take place at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m., with the fifth and seventh place games scheduled for 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Game Information
Game Number	10	Round	Preliminary
Arena	Centre Georges-Vézina	City, Country	Saguenay, Que.
Month / Day / Year	11/04/2011	Time	01:00 PM ET
Attendance		Game Status	Final

Box Score	1	2	3	Total
Atlantic (ATL)	1	2	3	6
Ontario Blue (ON-B)	0	0	2	2

Goals/Penalties

First Period

Goals:
16:04 ATL 8 Shannon MacAulay (10 Sarah Steele, 6 Alexis Crossley)

Penalties:
   07:27 ON-B 9 Molly Contini (Tripping)
   10:50 ATL 2 Nicole Corcoran (Interference)
   16:39 ON-B 93 Brianna Veerman (Tripping)

Second Period

Goals:
07:41 ATL 23 Catherine Tufts (14 Schyler Campbell, 7 Catherine LeBoeuf) PP
18:17 ATL 10 Sarah Steele (9 Savannah Newton)

Penalties:
   00:39 ATL 6 Alexis Crossley (Bodychecking)
   05:54 ON-B 11 Paige Horton (Hooking)
   09:22 ON-B 93 Brianna Veerman (Slashing)
   10:18 ON-B 14 Lindsey Allen (Checking to the Head)
   10:18 ON-B 14 Lindsey Allen (Checking to the Head)
   15:54 ON-B 94 Leah Buress (Tripping)

Third Period

Goals:
   06:29 ATL 15 Taylor Dale (14 Schyler Campbell, 23 Catherine Tufts) PP
   07:56 ON-B 14 Lindsey Allen (91 Hanna Bunton, 24 Emma Korbs)
   09:46 ATL 15 Taylor Dale (23 Catherine Tufts, 6 Alexis Crossley) PP
   14:36 ON-B 93 Brianna Veerman (14 Lindsey Allen, 91 Hanna Bunton) PP
   18:38 ATL 8 Shannon MacAulay EN

Penalties:
   01:54 ATL 19 Lisa Ann MacLean (Interference)
   06:20 ON-B 15 Olivia Whitford (Holding)
   09:15 ON-B 90 Hannah Bale (Bodychecking)
   11:21 ATL 6 Alexis Crossley (Roughing)
   11:32 ATL 11 Catherine Berghuis (Hooking)
   14:30 ATL 20 Jennifer MacAskill (Checking to the Head)
   14:30 ATL 20 Jennifer MacAskill (Checking to the Head)