**TIMMINS RINGETTE ASSOCIATION NEWS RELEASE**

The Timmins Tornadoes competitive Ringette teams recently competed at their Provincial tournaments to complete another successful year of competition. The Tornadoes are represented by five teams at the U12PP, U14A, U16A, U19A, and Open A divisions.
 
The U12 Provincial Petite team competed in three tournaments this year (Nepean, Whitby, and Guelph), and then at their Provincial tournament in Guelph from March 21-24, 2019. The team was placed in a division with six of their competitors from across the Province, and managed to finish the weekend with a round robin rating of 2 wins two losses, and 1 tie. They were all strongly contested games for the Tornadoes, but in the end, they narrowly missed advancing to the medal round on Sunday by one point. The team was led in scoring by Ella McCarty’s nine points, Brooke-Lynne McGinn and Talia Rivard’s five points, Amaia Aide Rios, Isabella Merenda, and Kaitlyn Bang’s four points, Juliette Bourdages-Coté, Christelle Berthier, Janelle Lapierre, and Alisa Duggan’s three points, Jana Courchesne’s two points, and single goals from Alexyane Plouffe and Tatiana Dalcourt. Goalie Jo-Anne Vane was a rock in net all weekend and was the backbone of the team all season. First year coach Trevor Vane and his staff did a fantastic job all year moulding these young girls into the cohesive and exciting team that they became.
 
The U14A team also competed in three tournaments this Ringette season (Nepean, Waterloo, and Guelph). They competed hard all year with a roster of 14 players, and had a season where they ranked in the middle of the pack with their A level competitors across the Province. They culminated their year by competing at the 2019 Provincial A tournament in North Bay from March 14-17, 2019. The team worked hard all weekend and had a strong showing until running into two strong teams on Saturday that they were unable to beat. In the end, they finished the round robin tournament with a record of 2-2-2. The end result was that they missed qualifying for the medal round by one point. Head Coach Eric Letourneau expressed how proud he was to witness the journey that his team went on this year and how hard they played in this final tournament. Their weekend began with a very tough game against Dorchester. Three times during that game they had to come from behind to tie the match, and were rewarded with a well-earned 4-4 tie. The second game was even tougher. The Tornadoes found themselves down by one goal with one and half minutes to go in the game, but never gave up. Not only did they fight to tie the game in exciting fashion, but they managed to score another goal to steal a very important 8-7 win against Oshawa.
 
The second day saw the team on familiar ground. With 10 minutes left in the game, they again found themselves down by 2 goals. They fought back to tie the game only to see the West Ottawa team take the lead with another score. So, once again, they were down with a minute to go in the game. And again, against all odds, the Tornadoes did it again by tying the game at three all and earning a precious point. The second game of the day turned out to be the only game of the whole tournament that wasn’t a nail bitter with Timmins defeating London 5-1. This allowed them to remain the only undefeated team in the tournament over the first two days. Unfortunately for the Timmins squad, Saturday would prove to be a disappointing day. Even though they fought hard and still managed to mount some strong pressure, strong teams from Arnprior and Waterloo managed to withstand the Tornadoes penchant for comebacks and held on to win both games. Coach Letourneau had a young team made up of 12 and 13 year old girls and an underage goalie who stood tall all year to back her team. He added that his team never quit all year and showed resiliency and pride in playing at a high competitive level all season, and earned the respect of their peers and ringette families game to game!
 
The U16A team played in three season tournaments (Nepean, Waterloo, and Guelph) and managed to finish in the top seven ranked teams in the Province. The successful season culminated in their participation in the 2019 Provincial A tournament in North Bay from March 14-17, 2019. The Tornadoes worked hard to achieve their high ranking this year, despite being short-staffed with only 12 players. The high ranking also meant having to compete against strong teams from Forest, West Ottawa, Metcalfe, Waterloo, London, and City of Ottawa. The Tornadoes were in the running after the first day, but two pivotal games over the next two days proved to be their undoing and prevented them from moving on to the medal round on Sunday. The first game occurred on the Friday when they worked hard to accumulate a 5-2 lead against London with less than 7 minutes left. Unfortunately, they let their collective feet off the gas in allowing London to come all the way back to earn a 5-5 tie. This collapse and loss of a point proved to be critical in making their last two round robin games must wins. Unfortunately, it came down to a final showdown with City of Ottawa where a win would have given them a chance to compete in a tie-breaker mini-game in order to win the final qualifying spot for Sunday’s medal round. Coach Matt Easton and his coaching staff were proud of how hard their girls competed in both this game and all season, but in the end, they fell short in their goal in losing the heartbreaker to Ottawa 5-4.
 
The U19A Tornadoes had a solid year in also competing in season tournaments in (Nepean, Waterloo, and Guelph) and managed to finish among the top two ranked teams in the Province. Like their U16 counterparts, the U19 A team also had to play this high level Ringette season short-staffed with only 12 players. With a team built on speed and a tenacious will to win, the Tornadoes went into the Provincial tournament in North Bay having lost only two games all year. They also went to North Bay to defend their 2018 U19 A Provincial title and hoped to return to compete once again as Team Ontario at the Eastern Canada Ringette Championships. But, this tournament proved that the teams in the top pool (Guelph, West Ferris, Forest, Nepean, Richmond Hills W and C) were all evenly matched right from the beginning as ties resulted in all games from the first day. The Tornadoes tackled the second day and came out in a reasonable position with only one loss and a record of 1 win (West Ferris 5-4), 1 loss (Guelph 6-3) and two ties (Forest 6-6 and Richmond Hill W 5-5). Saturday would prove the deciding day to determine if the tornadoes would advance to the medal round. Timmins started off the day in great form with a 4-3 win; jumping ahead early against Richmond Hill C, who could not close the gap. The final round robin game would be the most difficult, as they faced the top ranked Nepean Ravens; a team which had beaten the Tornadoes twice back in November. Timmins, however was very motivated and on fire. They started early and took control of the game 40 seconds in on a goal from Alexie Trudel. From that point on, the Tornadoes kept the pressure on and mounted a 5-2 lead at half. The game would finish 7-4 for the Tornadoes, assuring them a spot in the medals on Sunday. By the end of the day, Guelph would finish first with their win against West Ferris; and in doing so secured themselves a spot in the Final. Timmins would face Forest in the Semi-Final Sunday morning. Coach Rick Dagenais was quite complementary of his two goaltenders Adele Larochelle and Sonia Viel , as they were outstanding and made the difference, permitting the team to reach the medal round.
 
On Sunday, Forest and Timmins both came out flying with a chance to play for gold on the line. While the game was closely matched, Forest struck first. Reagen Moffat was able to beat goaltender Adele Larochelle on a pass from Kalley Jorris. The play continued to be back and forth with no team scoring until 5 min later when Haleigh Rops put Forest up by two with 4:36 left in the first period.
 
The Tornadoes kept fighting and with one minute left, Sydney Dagenais set up linemate Isabelle Rondeau on the back door to break the ice for Timmins. The goal lifted the Tornadoes; however, that would be short lived as Reagen Moffat notched her second of the game with 4 seconds left in the period. Down 4-1 after the first period, the Tornadoes had to regroup and refocus, which they did. The second period began quick and furious when 17 seconds in, on a pass from Melina Verreault , Sydney Dagenais moved across the top of the triangle and put a shot upstairs stick side on Moriah Mallick. The Tornadoes continued their pressure, but it took another 10 minutes for them to score, when Isabelle Rondeau brought the score to within one with her second of the game.
The Tornadoes continued to pressure the Forest squad and forced them to take penalties. In the last thirty seconds, Timmins had a two man advantage, giving them a 3 on 2. But, they were unable to capitalize and Forest hung on for a 4-3 victory.
 
Coach Rick Dagenais was quite happy with his team’s progress throughout the season. “We have grown as a team and had a great season despite playing short with only 10 skaters all season and being without the leadership of senior player Erin Rumleski due to injury”. They are full marks for coming home from the Provincial championship with a well earned Bronze medal and showing once again why Timmins Ringette teams are well respected across the Province.
Our Open A (over 18) Tornadoes played this year with a large roster of current and former competitive ringette players. They competed in season tournaments in Nepean, Whitby, and Guelph, before completing their final tournament in Waterloo from March 7-10, 2019, at the 2019 First Provincials. Despite having a hard year competing at many of their season tournaments, these ladies approached the Provincials with a renewed vigor and determination to give it their all. Despite the hopeful attitude, however, they completed the round robin portion by losing all six of their games. But, they all had fun playing together all year and in renewing their old social bonds, and many are planning to return in the fall to compete again.
 

Timmins Ringette  will be holding tryouts for the 2019-20 competitive ringette teams in April 2019. For more information on the tryouts or our House League Program, visit www.timminsringette.com or by emailing them at timminsringettetra@gmail.com.
 
As per the pic, the names are:
Back row: Coach Rick Dagenais, Trainer Linda Dagenais, Isabelle Rondeau, Adèle Larochelle, Asst Coach Jason Brousseau, Renée Viel, Marie Bourdage-Côté, Alexie Trudel, Émilie Viel, Sonia Viel, Goalie coach Pat Viel and Asst. Coach Yves Viel.
Front Row : Hailey Brousseau, Sydney Dagenais, Karine Trudel, Kara D’arcangelo, and Mélina Verreault

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