The girls’ hockey team participated in the Ottawa Geegees Tournament earlier this month, where they faced off against some of the top teams in Canada and came out of the tournament with a banner and a championship win. “This was a great start to the new year, the team was working together really well, and you could tell we all wanted this win,” said Captain Kate Elbrecht ’26.
Photo provided.
The girls started the weekend strong with a 5-0 win vs the Junior Oilers, but that night they lost 6-5 to the Blue Water Hawks, even after crawling their way back in the third. “We definitely didn’t play our best on Friday night, and if we had played how we played in the third, I think we would’ve won,” said Kenna Gillis ’27.
On Saturday, the girls put their game faces back on and came in focused, pulling off an overtime win that advanced them to the semi-finals. The semi-finals were also a very tough match, but the girls kept working, and with Summer MacLean ’28 scoring a beautiful overtime goal, they advanced to the finals. “It was a great feeling having that goal. It was definitely a battle and team effort all game, and I was just happy we got the win and were headed for the chance to win a championship,” said Summer.
In the finals, the girls faced off against the 2nd-ranked team in Canada, the Limoilou Titans. This game was exciting from start to finish, with the game remaining scoreless until about 2 minutes left in the third when Rylie Griffiths ’26 had a great shot from the blue which buzzed past the goalie. The game ended 1-0 with Northwood’s goalie Oceanne Thiffault ’26 standing on her head all game and recording a shutout. After five games of hard work, the Northwood girls raised the banner and became the first American team to win the Geegees tournament!
