Sudbury’s Lady Wolves Midget AA team earned the title of ‘Provincial Champions’ for its division in the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association over the weekend.
The team beat Stoney Creek 3 – 2, with forward Madisyn Papineau scoring the game winner with just over a minute left to play.
Now, they are gearing up for the national championship that the team is hosting in two weeks.
The race for the 2019 Esso Cup begins with 92 ‘Midget’ teams across Canada at the beginning of the season and is whittled down to only six. The annual competition is in its 11th year and has only been hosted in Ontario once before, back in 2014 in Hamilton.
Sudbury’s team won bronze in the tournament back in 2014 and took home gold in 2015.
Since the Sudbury Lady Wolves are hosting, the provincial runner up, the Stoney Creek Sabres will advance to the Ontario spot.
The other teams vying for the national title are:
- Halifax Fire, Atlantic region
- St. Albert Slash, Pacific region
- Saskatoon Stars, West region
A winner is yet to be determined for the Quebec region.
This year’s Esso Cup begins Sunday, April 21 at Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex in Sudbury. Sudbury’s team is scheduled to play the Halifax Fire that evening at 7 pm.
The championship will play out that week, culminating with the gold medal game Saturday, April 27 at 4 pm.
