It is always better to end the season with a win rather than ending it with a loss.

Both the Sudbury U18 A Lady Wolves and the Sudbury U15 BB Lady Wolves likely had to remind themselves of that fact in preparation for their final encounters of the year.

After suffering heartbreaking semi-final setbacks on Sunday morning, both local squads had to dust themselves off to prepare for a bronze medal game, needing to overcome the disappointment of their previous outing in order to not return home empty-handed.

In the case of the U18 A crew, time was of the essence after the team endured a marathon that required five overtime periods to settle in the morning as the Toronto Leaside Wildcats edged the Lady Wolves 2-1, with C.J. Pardy handling the scoring for the SDGHA reps.

Making matters worse was the fact that for the better part of that game, Sudbury was arguably the better team.

Credit to the Lady Wolves coaching staff as the locals came out guns a blazing, scoring three times in the first period (two goals by Chloe Leduc; one by C.J. Pardy) and downing the Durham West Lightning 3-1 behind the goaltending of Leah Murphy.

Coach Joe Costigan's side advanced through to the quarter-finals despite posting a 2-1 round robin record, bookending victories over both the Napanee Crunch (4-0) and Flamborough Falcons (4-1) around a 4-1 loss to the Stratford Aces before taking down the Burlington Barracudas in the quarter-finals (2-1).

The balance of the Sudbury U18 A roster is made up of Maya Flores, Lileigh Dormer, Makayla Dunn, Ava Bois, Myra Mead, Elsa Blum, Maia Hammell, Kaileigh Johnson, Mercedes Zazulak, Rylee Morris, Sarah Withers, Addison Gibbs, Sutton Morin and Kendra Cole.

While there was no overtime involved, a 2-1 loss to the eventual gold medal winning Temiskaming Shores Puckhounds in the semis was as close as could be for the U15 BB Lady Wolves, who could muster only one goal off the stick of Ryann Morris in the all-northern battle.

Having dropped games to the top ranked Kanata Rangers earlier this year by scores of 3-0 and 5-0, the nickel city girls found an extra gear in the battle for third, upsetting the favourites 3-2 on a late goal from Lauren Bouchard (1:20 to play).

Jenna Cole and Karlie Shea scored earlier in the game for a Sudbury group that went undefeated in pool play, beating both the Toronto Leaside Wildcats (4-0) and the Burlington Barracudas (1-0) before playing to a 1-1 draw with the Woodstock Wildcats.

A 2-1 win in the round of eight over the Peterborough Ice Kats featured high drama as a double OT tally from Ryann Morris combined with a strike from Violet Simon in regulation time and a solid performance between the pipes from Alexa Lamoureux (first year in organized hockey) allowed the U15BB Lady Wolves to advance to the final four.

The balance of the Sudbury U15BB Lady Wolves roster: Amelie Gervais, Chloe Boucher, Emma Mourre, Gabby Roy, Leah Windover, Maiya Parsons, Mattia Mullen, Megan Pineau, Michaela Cole, Mila Kidd and Suri Darwish.

The team staff included coaches David Simon and Geoff Morris, assistant coaches Robbie Kidd and Samantha Stortini, team manager Kristin Bouchard and trainer Shannon Lafortune.

While Sudbury Lady Wolves in name only, the Senior A team captured gold over the weekend, bouncing the Durham West Lightning 3-1 on the strength of goals from Christina Chin, with a pair, and Tayler Murphy.

Murphy, of course, was a long-time member of several Sudbury Lady Wolves' teams, moving on to play her post-secondary hockey with the York Lions. Still in Toronto, she assembled a squad based largely on a core of former York teammates and various other hockey acquaintances to compete this year, playing all of their home games in the GTA.

Remaining members of the gold medal winning Senior A team were Jenna Gray, Kara Washer, Sam Jones, Serena Vilde, Sarah Power, Keana Oshowy, Julie Patricio, Rebecca Lopes, Brynn Rawn, Keelin Farren, Melissa Misztal and Alyssa Holmes.

Unfortunately, for the remaining nine Lady Wolves teams that attended Provincials, there would be no Sunday hockey, though several came close to giving themselves a shot.

The U18 AA Lady Wolves posted a 3-0 record in pool play before running into their nemesis in the form of the North York Storm, dropping the quarter-final matchup 3-1.

Having just captured the league title, the Sudbury U13 AA Lady Wolves were on the wrong end of the tie-breaker on the weekend, beating the St Catharines Brock Jr Badgers (1-0) and Whitby Wolves (4-2) and knotting things up with the Kitchener Lady Rangers (2-2), only to see the latter move on via goal differential.

Same scenario for the U13 BB crew - 4-0 vs Toronto Leaside, 4-1 against North Halton and 1-1 with the Huron Heat - while the U11 AA squad took on the challenge of playing at the highest level and are certainly better for it, thumping the Stoney Creek Sabres (6-1), edged out by the Clarington Flames (3-2) and closing off with a scoreless draw with the Nepean Wildcats.

The Sudbury U18 BB team also went undefeated but did not advance (1-0-2), while the U15 AA squad posted a very respectable mark of 0-1-2, a record that was matched by the U15 A Lady Wolves.

Finally, the U11 B entry started well enough, blanking the Haldimand Rivercats 5-0 and remained unbeaten with a 1-1 tie against the Carleton Place Cyclones, but were steamrolled by a Lucan Irish squad that somehow managed to drop a 2-1 decision to Carleton Place.