Day 8 Ending on a High

Written by Coach Greg

Today is the last day of the tournament. We had an early game so the bus left the hotel at 8am…the girls were still in the process of waking up. So were some of us adults. Our first game of the day was critical as we needed to win or tie to have any chance of making the semifinals. It was against an undefeated team, one that was quite big and very skilled. The game was fast and tight, and we scored midway through the final period to tie that game and almost won it on a number of close chances in the last minute of the game. The Player of the Game was Melissa Simone. The Finnish goalies continue to demonstrate excellent skills. We had to wait for the next game to see if we advance. Hamilton needed to win in order for us to have a chance but they lost 7-0. This meant we would play in the consolation game. That too proved to be a very exciting game, with Richmond Hill scoring with over two minutes left to tie that game and then again with 7 seconds (shorthanded) left to win it. Sabrina Lem was named Player of the Game. This meant that we finished 5th in the tournament out of 9 teams. The Organizers named Melissa, Anika and Ashley the top players of the tournament for Richmond Hill. A very respectable showing by the girls, especially since most of the girls we played against were 1-2 years older. We headed back to the hotel to a nice dinner, during which we watched the consolation final again (thanks to Roman) with much cheering for the number of great plays and awesome stops by Ashley. We were still a little confused by some of the penalties. The adults then toasted the Mills family back in Newmarket with the Ice Wine they gave us before we came to Europe. As I type this many of the girls are beside me teasing Ollie our bus driver and Lauri is on the other side with Mohamed having a drink. The others have gone to sleep since many have an early morning flight…the first bus leaves at 4am for the airport. We had a spectacular time here in Finland - the tournament was very well organized and the competition was excellent. Many of the games were one goal games. Tomorrow we will be heading home and will provide an update when we arrive. A final thanks to Lauri and his team for making our trip so enjoyable…it really was an experience of a lifetime, one the girls will not forget.