The celebration of a silver medal performance at the Ringette Ontario Provincial Championships had barely subsided when the local crew decided to take another step forward.
Just weeks after finishing second only to West Ottawa Wild, and that by a single goal in the U14-A Tier I final in Mississauga, the Greater Sudbury North Stars have confirmed their entry at the U16 AA level in 2023-2024, the first time in years a local team has competed at that level.
First, the story of provincials where the Sudbury U14A girls were in tough against the best of the best after enjoying a fair bit of success in tournament play over the course of the winter.
The northern entry was on fire on day one, melting the Ottawa Ice 4-0 on goals from Brooke Lanovaz, Yasmine Ahmed, Jenna Provincial and Kienna Bracken and a shutout performance from Sophie Savignac.
Defense was still not an issue the next morning as the North Stars played the Sunderland Stingerz to a scoreless draw, with Savignac still flawless between the pipes.
The Sudbury squad would see their record drop to 1-1-1 in round robin play, beaten 4-2 by the Forest Xtreme as a pair of goals from Brooke Lanovaz pulled the locals even before Forest scored twice in the final four minutes to secure the win.
Needing a win to safely move on, Sudbury doubled the Barrie Blizzard 6-3 in their final preliminary contest as Brooke Lanovaz netted the hat trick and Yasmine Ahmed added a pair of goals, their scoring kicked off by Emilie Philippe.
A semi-final rematch against Forest featured scoring only in the opening period as both Yasmine Ahmed and Emilie Philippe found the back of the net for te North Stars, lifting the team past the Xtreme by a final count of 2-1.
Unfortunately, the tables would be turned in the final, the Sudbury girls on the wrong side of a 3-2 scoreboard versus West Ottawa as Cora Dippong and Yasmine Ahmed hit the mark for the GSRA entry.
Rounding out the 2022-2023 roster were Lauren Dupuis, Mia Michaud, Joslyn McLaughlin, Madison Troscinski, Sophia Doyle, Jacqueline MacMillan and Ashlyn Doyle.
With that medal safely secured, it was time to up the ante as coach Tina Duguay, assistant coaches Shane Troscinski and Shelley Ahmed and manager Troy McLaughlin guide the newly-formed U16 AA team into uncharted waters next season.
Joining a returning core comprised of Emilie Philippe, Madison Troscinski, Yasmine Ahmed, Brooke Lanovaz, Kienna Bracken, Joslyn McLaughlin, Jenna Provincial and Sophie Savignac are newcomers Bree Bomhower, Maxyme Brule, Mackenzie Coufal, Danielle Levasseur, Payton Houle, Katrine Fortier and Alyssa Joslin.
