SPORTS Exciting semi-final shootout win sends girls’ hockey team to finals

Paris Panthers Report with George Le Gresley

As far as winter sports at Paris District High School, there is only one team still paying in this year’s winter sports schedule and yes, it’s the Panther Girls hockey team. Coming in second place during league play earned them a bye to the semifinal game on Monday afternoon at the Brant Sports Complex against the BCI Mustangs. The Panthers dominated offensively most of the first period but couldn’t get on the scoreboard.

The second period started with Paris playing a woman short for three minutes and they still managed to survive the Mustang power play, with key saves from Paris’ goalie Kenzie Coates Once again, the period ended scoreless

The third period started off with a Panthers’ penalty which was successfully killed From that point on both teams worked hard to break the tie, until there was a Brantford penalty with 1:44 to play in regulation time Again, no score during regulation time and off to a sudden death shootout, far different than how it’s done in the NHL The referees place two pucks on the outside of the circle at centre ice and a skater on each team takes a puck and tries to score on their opponents’ goalie. BCI leads the first round and Paris doesn’t The next round both teams score and the overtime score is 2-1 for BCI. Naren Parker is next in the shootout and scores while Paris goalie Coates makes the stop…. BCI 2-PDHS 2.

The Paris coaching staff keeps Parker on the ice and again she and the BCI skater score and it’s all tied up at 3. After scoring two goals in a row, Naren is sent out again to score. The BCI skater takes her shot and netminder Kenzie Coates makes a save and Naren gets the puck to pass the goal line to win the game. Paris advances to the finals against Assumption College on Wednesday

Girls Hockey North Final

Action at the Gretzky Centre on Wednesday pitted the first place Assumption College against the second place Paris Panthers

The young ladies of PDHS got themselves in trouble in the first 24 seconds giving Assumption a woman advantage, which they were able to kill. Five minutes later Paris is back in the sin bin and Faith Smith played some stellar defence under a high level of pressure from their opponents.

Unfortunately, Assumption scores a power play goal, despite Kenzie

Coates’ stellar play At the end of the first period the score is Assumption 1 Paris 0, even though the Panthers killed 9 shorthanded minutes (because they play without the clock stopping, penalties are 3 minutes long).

During the second period with Paris playing with 5 skaters, Faith Smith fires a shot from the point that the ACS goalie had to make a great save on. The game gets tied off a Ryann Taylor’s stick, with the assists going to Naren Parker and Scoutt Hergott-Leader

Unfortunately, ACS scores with 2 seconds left in the period to take a 2-1 lead.

The third period starts off with an ACS shot that hit one of the goalies 3 best defenders, the crossbar (the other 2 being the goal posts) The Panthers are pressing hard in offensive zone but are unable to get quality shots on the goal With 1:47 remaining in the game, ACS seals the win with a third goal to take the championship.

For Paris there is disappointment in the loss, but as Naren Parker points out following the game, that her team is a very young team, of which only one player on the roster is graduating. The team is looking to get more experience, as they are off to CWOSSA playdowns in Simcoe Friday (details not available as of press deadline).