A round robin loss in tournament play, generally speaking, is not the end of the world. In some instances, even a couple of setbacks in the preliminary games might not spell disaster.

Both the Sudbury U13 Lady Wolves Blue and the Sudbury U15 Lady Wolves Blue were thankful for just such a format come Sunday afternoon at the Snowflake Challenge this past weekend.

Both local house league teams managed to turn the tables come time for the “win or go home” playoff encounters, with the tandem ensuring that a pair of championship banners would remain in Sudbury.

With four teams competing in each of the age brackets above, a full round-robin schedule would give way to the traditional 4 v 1 / 3 v 2 semi-final matchups, with Team Urso (U13) and Team Vehkala (U15) both rising to the occasion.

The younger crew had dropped a 5-0 decision to the other local entry before blasting the North Bay Jr Lakers 7-0 but closing out their non-playoff games with a 2-1 loss to Temiskaming Shores.

It was a different story the next day as Team Urso blanked that same opponent 3-0 in the semis and then rode goals from Rya Aubertin, Allison Davies and Mackenzie Ewers to a 3-1 win over their SDGHA rivals, with Laura McNeil rifling home the only shot that would elude winning goaltender Madeline Schnarr on championship Sunday.

“We told them to go for the net, we told them to go for the rebounds – and we really stressed back-checking,” noted first year head coach Lesley Urso, a volunteer who jumped into the role in large part due to the admiration she had for the work of fellow SDGHA bench boss Ryan Forigo, the man who guided her daughter through the 2022-2023 season and has now moved up to the U15 ranks.

While every single player provided some input to the gold medal run, Urso particularly stressed the contribution of the blueline brigade. “Our defense is actually quite strong,” she said. “We have a lot of rushing defencemen. They just seem to know when to go when there is wide open ice.”

“They are some of our fastest skaters and they go with the puck,” Urso continued. “We kind of give them free rein to do it.”

Something of an underdog at the beginning of the tournament, Team Urso also capitalized on the intangibles that are such a big part of building a winning team. “Our team really gelled this weekend,” said Urso. “We have very positive relationships. That has been a big part of what we have done well here.”

“I think this team really, really likes each other and are having fun together.”

Rounding out the Sudbury U13 Lady Wolves Blue team are Olivia Fournier, Keanna Wanna Da Silva, Jordyn White, Valentina Pastre, Emily Harris, Azhibikoonz Trudeau, Mila Roy, Scarlett Hallows, Brooke Ilves, Isabel Roussel and Julia Forigo.

That same factor also rose to prominence in the discussion with U15 coach Aaron Vehkala, his team rebounding from a 4-1 loss to Sault Ste Marie – Team Essentials on Saturday to earn a 3-0 triumph in the final as goals from Alicia Elliott, Brooke Roberts and Mia Gunner provided ample support for Sudbury puck-stopper Josephine Dobbs.

“First off, the girls didn’t know each other, so we had to build some camaraderie with the team,” noted coach Vehkala of the early season process. “Getting to know each other was important. Then pairing up players skill-wise with forwards and defense was also important. We’ve stuck with the same lines so that the players know each other well and support each other.”

That said, there was also some strategic adjustments to be made in the SSM vs Sudbury rematch, especially given that one player had done all of the scoring for the Lock City reps in their first go around with Team Vehkala. “They had one really strong player, so we knew that when #18 was on the ice, we had to be a little more defensive and aware that she was out there,” said the coach.

“We had two girls on her all the time, whenever she touched the puck.”

And while that may have cut down on the goals against, it wasn’t going to help in terms of creating more scoring chances for the locals. “Our focus was on supporting one another, staying positive and believing in themselves and each other,” said Vehkala. “Just being able to go after the puck knowing that they have teammates beside them that are there to support them was important.”

Alivia Buchowski, Allison Vehkala, Ava Herbert, Ava Gigliotti, Billie King, Faith Kewais, Laila Thompson, Lexa Pharand, Lexi McDowell, Liv Lamothe, Margot Vanderbeken and Rachel Lazarus are also all part of the U15 winning team.

In other house league finals, the Canal District from Sault Ste Marie made it five straight wins in the U18 bracket with a 3-0 whitewashing of the Nipigon Elks – Blue as Makayla Robertson, Haven Binkley and Madisyn Syrette handled the scoring while the Hearst U11 Ice Cats spotted the Sudbury Lady Lynx a one goal lead (marker from Callie Bourgeois), netting a pair of second period goals 43 seconds apart to edge the nickel city girls 2-1.

Also mixed into the tournament schedule were some OWHA rep games for the Sudbury U18 AA and Sudbury U15 A Lady Wolves, with the U13 BB team hosting Temiskaming Shores for a pair of exhibition battles.

The U18 AA girls ran their unbeaten streak to eight games on Saturday, downing the Caledon Coyotes 3-0 but would see the run snapped the next day, trimmed 2-1 by the Brampton Canadettes. Sandwiching her third period laser from the point between goals from teammates Chloe Martin and Ayla Lagace, defenseman Laryssa Mayer would be credited with the game-winning goal in the win.

“We had some traffic in front of the net which helped,” said Mayer, a 16 year-old grade 11 student at Ecole secondaire Macdonald-Cartier, now in her second year with the team. “I don’t think the goalie saw the shot coming. It went right over her shoulder.”

There’s little doubt that Mayer likes to inssert herself into the offensive part of the Sudbury game plan, all while acknowledging that there is a time and place to do so. “It really depends on the play,” she said. “If there’s a 50/50 chance that they get by me, I have to stay back. But if I think that I can go in, I do and take the risk – and hopefully nothing goes bad.”

Things were going well for the U15 A Lady Wolves on Saturday, up 3-1 on the Durham West Lightning after two periods of play. The visitors stormed back, however, earning the tie (3-3) and then carrying that momentum into Sunday when they upended the Lady Wolves 4-1 before heading back to the GTA.

"We gave the puck away a lot - a lot of giveaways," noted defenceman Ryan Snow this week. "We should have kept our heads up more, communicated better, just eliminated those little mistakes which leads to those goals."

Still, the team sits with a record of 5-6-2, exactly in the middle of a nine team league, with a pair of tournament wins to their credit already.

"Our team has a great relationship," said Snow. "We really trust one another. If I am one on one and get beat, I know that the other defense will have me covered."

Where home game for Lady Wolves "A" teams playing in the OWHA circuit were typically based out of Vaughan, perhaps Parry Sound if they were lucky, the U15 crew are playing most of their home game at home.

"It gives an opportunity for more of my family members and friends to come and watch," said Snow. "It's nice to have it in Sudbury to get some new faces in the crowd. No one wants to travel to Toronto every weekend."