Chatham Thunder Provincial Gold Medalists – Submitted Photo

The Thunder started slowly, losing their first game 5-3 to Metcalf and tying Forest 5-5. On Friday, the Thunder started rolling, beating Elora-Fergus 3-2.

Saturday morning brought a 5-3 win against Sault Ste. Marie setting up a must-win to advance against Oshawa. Chatham was down 4-0 early in the second half before they turned it around to edge the hometown team 5-4.

Sunday morning’s semi-final saw the Chatham Thunder once again fall behind, this time 3-0 before taking over the game for another 5-4 win.

In the championship game Chatham jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, then never looked back, dominating the game and shutting out The Soo 4-0 for the gold medal.

Team members are goalies Olivia Eskritt and Audrey Mackay-Barr, defencemen Camille Blain, Ericka Anderson, Leah Thompson, Ireland Dasilva and Rachel Carleton, Forwards Lydia Harron, Niyah Poole, Natasha Anderson, Isabel Baillie, Emily Newman, Rachel Benn and Courtney Legere.

They completed the round robin portion of the tournament undefeated by defeating Waterloo Gold, Guelph, and Waterloo Black. On Sunday, they faced off with Waterloo Black for the gold medal, but Waterloo was able to come up with the win. It was a hard fought game and both teams had compliments for each other during the medal presentations.

Team members include: Shelby Ritzer, Delaney George, Emilie Newman, Natasha Anderson, Leah Thompson, Martina Legere, Sophie Horban, Avery Haines, Kylyn Murphy, Hannah McLeod , Kaitlyn Sammon, Kaitlyn (Rosie) Warner, Chloe Crone, Coach Chris Legere, Ast. Coach’s John Thompson, Shawn Newman, Mike Crone, Trainer’s Shauna Thompson and Carla McLeod.

Natasha Anderson scored twice in the win, with singles added by Emilie Newman, Kaitlyn Sammon, and Hannah McLeod. Assists came from Delaney George, Sammon, McLeod, Kylyn Murphy, and Martina Legere. Avery Haines was again spectacular in net.

This is the second year that the Chatham Thunder Novice age group has completed a perfect season, setting the bar high for next year’s group of Novice players. The Thunder dominated their opponents this season, outscoring their competition 182-42 through their 20 game season.

The girls now set their sights on the regional championship tournament in which 18 teams vie for the gold medal for Southern Ontario held later this month in Guelph.

The scoring results are as follows:

Game 1 – Chatham 12 Dorchester 0

Natasha Anderson blasted 4 goals and 1 assist followed by Hannah McLeod and Martina Legere each with a hat trick. Singles were added by Chloe Crone and Leah Thompson. Assists from Emilie Newman, Kaitlyn Sammon, Shelby Ritzer and Kylyn Murphy set up plays. Avery Haines with the shut out.

Game 2 – Chatham 9 London 2

Two goals each from Newman, Sammon, Anderson, and Thompson. Delaney George rounded out the scoring with a single. Assists from George, Newman, Anderson and Ritzer.

Game 3 – Chatham 9 Forest 3

Emilie Newman scored a hat trick leading the group to a win over the second place team. Singles came from Sammon, Anderson, Ritzer, Kaitlyn (Rosie) Warner, Legere, and Thompson. Assists from George, Newman, Sammon, Anderson, Ritzer, Crone, Warner, Legere, Thompson and Sophie Horban.

Final game of the regular season will be at Erickson Arena Sunday March 3 at 12:00pm.

Alissa Reid was the winning goalie for the weekend, backstopping her team in each game. Kara Hueniken led the Thunder with 10 goals.

Games results are as follows:

Game 1
Chatham 5 vs Forest 4

Goals were scored by Kara Hueniken (3), Hannah Doforno, and Kayla Therrien. Assists by Kayla Therrien (2) and Tristen Stewart (2).

Game 2
Chatham 9 vs Timmins 9

Goals were scored by Kara Hueniken (3), Kayla Therrien (3), Kelsey Zondag, Tristen Stewart and Hannah Doforno. Assists were scored by Rachel Roberts (2), Carys Owen Kayla Therrien and Kara Hueniken.

Game 3
Chatham 6 vs Ottawa 2

Goals scored by Kayla Therrien (3), Tristen Stewart, Hannah Doforno and Kara Hueniken. Assists by Hannah Doforno, Kara Hueniken, Tristen Stewart and Courtney Roberts

Game 4

Chatham 7 vs Valley East 2

Goals were scored by Kara Hueniken, Carys Owen (3), Hannah Doforno, Kayla Therrien and Courtney Roberts. Assists by Kayla Therrien, Hannah Doforno (2), Kelsey Zondag, Tristen Stewart, and Courtney Roberts.

Game Five FINAL
Chatham 6 vs Timmins 4

Goals were scored by Hannah Doforno (2), Kara Hueniken (2), Claire Hedrick and Kayla Therrien. Assists by Tristen Stewart, Courtney Roberts, Kelsey Zondag, Carys Owen and Hannah Doforno.

On Friday the Thunder played Forest, dropping a 3-2 score while playing without several players caught in the snowstorm. Rachel Carleton and Courtney Legere scored the Chatham goals with assists from Erica Anderson and Rachel Benn. With a full squad later that afternoon, Chatham tied Timmins 3-3 with goals from Legere, Benn and Camille Blain.

On Saturday, the Thunder faced division foes London, again tying, this time 6-6. Benn and Carleton each popped in 2 goals while Legere and Ireland DaSilva each scored one. Assists were earned by Lydia Harron, Isabelle Baillie, Naiah Poole, Legere, Benn, and DaSilva. In game four, facing undefeated Oshawa, the Thunder played their best game of the tournament, finally getting into the win column. Rachel Benn, with two, and Lydia Harron supplied the goals in a 3-1 victory. Olivia Eskritt and Audrey Mackay-Barr shared the duties in net and provided excellent goaltending all weekend.

The Thunder finished first in their pool as they prepare for the Provincial Tournament starting April 11 in Oshawa.

U10 Chatham Thunder

Game 1: Chatham 10 – Sudbury 1
Chloe Crone lead the way with a hat trick to defeat the girls from the north. Emilie Newman and Kaitlyn Sammon both netted 2 each. Singles were added by Delaney George, Martina Legere, and Leah Thompson. Assists from Sophie Horbin, George, Newman, Shelby Ritzer, and Kylyn (Crusher) Murphy set up the plays.

Game 2: Chatham 12 – Cambridge 1
A scoring bonanza from the forwards led by Martina Legere with 3. Two goals from Chloe Crone, Delaney George, and Emilie Newman and singles from Natasha Anderson, Leah Thompson, and Kaitlyn (Rosie) Warner finished off the game. Assists from Crone (3), Shelby Ritzer(3), Newman(3), Warner (2) Murphy, and George showed the crowd that Chatham works together as a team!

Game 3: Chatham 8 – Guelph 4
In the game leading up to the gold medal match Chatham came out flying setting Guelph back on their heels with a flurry of goals led by Emilie Newman with a hat trick. Natasha Anderson added two and singles by George, Kaitlyn Sammon, and Thompson finished off the game. Assists from Legere(2) George, and Murphy set up the goals.

Game 4: (Gold Medal Game) Chatham 1 – Guelph 3
Natasha Anderson scored Chatham’s lone goal in a hard fought battle with Guelph. The host team’s defence put on a spectacular effort shutting down Chatham’s offence. Chatham’s goaltender for all games Avery Haines was outstanding throughout the tourneyment and stopped a barrage of shots in the medal game.

In the second back to back game Chatham came out strong and scored often with Natasha Anderson once again with a 4 goal game. Emilie Newman answered with two and singles from George, Sammon, Ritzer, Warner, Martina Legere, and Leah Thompson. Two assists each from George, Newman, Crone, Legere and Shelby Ritzer rounded out the point total.

Avery Haines was between the pipes and showed the crowd what it takes to be an undefeated team with a rock solid performance.

The girls are off to Guelph next weekend for their annual tournament and hope to bring home another banner to hang proudly at Erickson arena.

Natasha Anderson put on a scoring clinic netting 4 goals, her highest number this year. Singles were added by Emilie Newman, Hannah McLeod, Shelby Ritzer, and Kylyn Murphy. Assists from Delaney George, Kaitlyn Sammon, Newman, McLeod, and Murphy rounded out the point scoring. The winning goaltender was again Avery Haines with her 11th win between the pipes.

The Thunder’s next game is at home against the number two team in their division Forest White next Sunday 12 pm at Erickson.

The U-16 Chatham Maple City Electric Thunder had 1 home game this past weekend. Chatham lost to Kitchener 3-1, with the lone Thunder goal coming from Kayla Therrien.

Friday they opened the tournament against Cambridge Orange defeating them by a score of 11-0. Avery Haines receiving the shutout. Scorers with two goals each were Delaney George, Kylyn Murphy, and Martina Legere. Singles were netted by Emilie Newman, Kaitlyn Sammon, Natasha Anderson, Hannah McLeod, and Leah Thompson. Assisting on goals were Delaney George, Natasha Anderson, Hannah McLeod, Shelby Ritzer, Chloe Crone, Kaitlyn (Rosie) Warner, and Leah Thompson.

Saturday’s action saw two riveting games against a fantastic team from Guelph. The first game started with Kaitlyn (Rosie) Warner scoring five minutes in with a beautiful backhand. The second period started with the girls being down by a score of 2-1, but Natasha Anderson used her speed to score just 48 seconds in tying it up. With 1:11 to go Chatham was down by a score of 3-2 and ready to pull their goaltender but Chloe Crone charged in to tie it up. After a flurry of shots at both ends Leah Thompson netted the winner with 30 seconds left in the game.

The next game again against the third place team Guelph was a hard fought battle resulting in a 4-4 tie which allowed Chatham to advance to the gold medal game. Scoring two goals was Emilie Newman followed by singles from Chloe Crone and Martina Legere. Assisting was Shelby Ritzer and Chloe Crone.

The gold medal game was held Sunday against Cambridge Black in front of their home crowd. The game was close in the first period ending in a tie 2-2 with goals from Chloe Crone and Kaitlyn (Rosie) Warner. The second period was dominated by Chatham with 6 unanswered goals. Scoring two goals apiece were Natasha Anderson and Hannah McLeod. Singles came from Leah Thompson and Emilie Newman. Assists from Shelby Ritzer, Martina Legere, Kaitlyn Sammon and Sophie Horban.