The Trent Ringette team went down in history as the university’s first ever league tournament hit the ice last week. Although the team did not come out on top, they showed great effort and a lot of heart. Having never played as a team or against a competing team they successfully represented Trent and showed what is truly meant by the spirit of the game.
On Friday, January 11, the Trent Ringette team travelled to the lovely town of Whitby to play their first game of the season against Halton. Trent started out strong as they held off Halton for the first eight minutes of the game, not allowing them to bypass their defense. Unfortunately, Halton could not be held off forever as Trent began racking in the penalty minutes and were playing shorthanded. During the first period the Trent girls served a total of six minutes in the penalty box, and throughout that time Halton was able to score six goals. But Trent would not be discouraged. They picked up their game during the second period, and within the first three minutes #19 Madison Holmes-Lauzon was able to put Trent on the score board. Trent did their best, but lost the game 8-1.
The following day, Trent played their second game of the tournament against the Nepean Ravens. Once again, Trent was able to hold them off for the first few minutes of the game, but it was not enough. Nepean was aggressive and Trent was fighting back with everything they had, and the referees were on top of everything calling penalties as they see fit. This was bad news for Trent as they were getting penalties left and right. During the first period they received 10 minutes worth of penalties and with so many people in and out of the box, Nepean was able to score four goals. Going into the second period with a score of 4-0, Trent kicked it into overdrive to try and stop Nepean from getting any more points on the board, but with an additional eight minutes in the penalty box, they lost the game 7-0.
Only a few hours after their loss against the Nepean Ravens, Trent was back on the ice for their final game at 9pm against St. Thomas. Trent gave it their all as the players finally gelled together, and got the ball rolling. Trent significantly cut down on their penalty minutes to give them the edge they needed. During the first period, they were goal for goal with St. Thomas. Every time they scored, Trent was right there scoring their own goals. The first goal scored by #19 Madison Holmes-Lauzon, the second by #9 Rana Beaini and, getting her second goal of the game, the third was score by #19 Madison Holmes-Lauzon. By the end of the first period the score was tied 3-3 and Trent stood a chance of winning the game going into the second period. Unfortunately, St. Thomas still had a few tricks up their sleeves and scored another four goals before the game was to come to an end. With only two minutes left the score was 7-3, until # 14 Kathleen Sutherland pushed through and scored the final goal of the game, closing the gap. The final score was 7-4 for St. Thomas.
Although the Trent Ringette team did not win a place in the finals, they never let their spirit fall. For playing in their first ever tournament and having never before played as a team, they did extreme well, and are looking forward to their next tournament. Good luck!