2003-04 National Women's Team

The first ever Team Canada Thanksgiving Festival came to an end on Sunday, with two final ice sessions after a week of games, practices and numerous off-ice activities.

3rd place 3-on-3

Team Scherer finished in third place of the three-team tournament at the Festival and had the early wake-up call for a spirited game of 3-on-3 at the Dartmouth Sportsplex.

The final score was 9-6 and the fans were entertained with nothing short of firewagon hockey. Danielle Goyette had a hat trick while and Kaley Hall scored twice for the winning side. Single scorers for the winners were Susie Laska, Correne Bredin and Ashley Riggs.

Goalscorers for the losing side were Jennifer Botterill, with two, Vicky Sunohara, Heather Logan, Katherine Weatherston and Danielle Bourgeois.

Championship game – Team Wilson 2 Team St-Louis 3

The final game lived up to its billing, as both Team Wilson and Team St-Louis brought their A-games.

Team St-Louis took an early lead, as Becky Kellar’s point shot seemed to deflect off of a leg in front and found the net behind Charline Labonté. The lead only lasted five minutes as Team Wilson’s Marie-Claude Allard evened the score at 13:42.

It was Team Wilson’s turn to take a lead as Nancy Drolet scored unassisted off of a draw, surprising goaltender Sami Jo Small. It seemed that the lead would hold up but Jayna Hefford gave all the fans on hand a goal that had everyone recalling her dramatic game-winning goal at the Olympics in the final game.

Hefford’s goal wasn’t quite as important, but it was a back-breaker, coming with less than 1 second to play. Team Wilson and Team St-Louis were all square at 2.

The score remained tied until, with less than four minutes to play, forechecking led to a turnover and Team St-Louis’ La Toya Clarke pounced on the puck, putting it past Tania Pinelli for what ended up being the winning goal. Team St-Louis held on for a 3-2 win and to capture the first-ever Team Canada Thanksgiving Festival.