With both OWHL (Ontario Women's Hockey League) playoffs and a separate pathway to provincials (playdowns) dotting the schedule of a handful of Sudbury Lady Wolves' teams at this time of year, garnering a thorough understanding of the landscape of competitive girls hockey in Ontario can prove challenging for those who are not fully immersed.
Although the all-Ontario weekend tournament remains set for the period of April 11th to 14th, the fact remains that the OWHL will also crown league champions over the course of the next few weeks.
After finishing first in the Central North division of the U18 A bracket, the Sudbury crew safely navigated stage one of the post-season, posting a record of 4-1-1 to earn a berth in the second round of the process.
The team started off nicely a few weeks back as a pair of second period goals from Maia Hammell would be enough to lift the U18 A Lady Wolves past the Central York Panthers 2-1, with Leah Murphy picking up the win between the pipes.
Game two versus the Barrie Sharks would see the locals carry a 2-1 lead into the third only to see their southern Ontario opponents deadlock matters in the final five minutes as the teams played to a 2-2 tie with C.J. Pardy and Kendra Cole lighting the lamp for head coach Joe Costigan's side.
The Lady Wolves earned a measure of revenge in the rematch, doubling Barrie 4-2 as Sarah Withers and Kaileigh Johnson joined Pardy and Cole on the scoresheet with the northern crew remaining undefeated midway through their home and home sets.
Tightening things up defensively, a shutout effort from Elsa Blum would allow a third period goal from Makayla Dunn to stand as the game-winning snipe in a 1-0 win over the North Simcoe Capitals.
The only sub-standard performance from the SDGHA reps would come in a 2-0 loss to Central York in game five, with the team getting right back in stride by closing out the six-game sequence with a 6-0 shellacking of North Simcoe.
A balanced attack featured goals from Chloe Leduc, Sarah Withers, Kaileigh Johnson, Sutton Morin, Maya Flores and Rylee Morris, with Blum stretching her streak of flawless netminder to a pair of games against the Capitals.
Flores and Leduc would add three assists each to their stat-line as the Lady Wolves now advance to face the Etobicoke Dophins and Toronto Leaside Wildcats in what will amount to a four-game battle, with the top team moving on to championship weekend (not to be confused with the OWHA Provincials weekend).
Joining the U18 A girls in the second round will be the Sudbury U13 AA Lady Wolves who managed to go undefeated with a record of 4-0-2 in round one of the playoffs. Coach Scott Rienguette and company managed to pick up at least one win against each of their home and home opponents, sweeping the Barrie Sharks (3-0, 2-1) and registering a win and a tie against both the Central York Panthers (5-2, 3-3) and the Markham-Stouffville Stars (1-1, 2-1).
The U18 AA Lady Wolves (3-1-2), U18 BB Lady Wolves (3-2-1), U15 AA Lady Wolves (1-1-4) and U15 A Lady Wolves (3-3-0) all did not advance to the next round of the playoffs, though some remain alive in the fight for an OWHA Provincial title banner.