The North Bay Ice Boltz Midget AA Hockey Club went into Sudbury Thursday evening on a mission as they beat the Wolves 3-1 in game one of the best-of-three series.
Last year the Ontario's #1 ranked Sudbury Lady Wolves, defeated the Ice Boltz in the 2016 Provincial playdowns and eight returning players for the 2016/17 Ice Boltz wanted to make sure that the roles were reversed this year.
From the initial puck drop North Bay controlled the pace of the game and did not allow Sudbury an opportunity to establish any sustained attack. While the first period ended without a goal being scored, the Ice Boltz had a distinct advantage in time of possession and scoring opportunities.
Early in the second period Maria Dominico took a great goal-mouth pass from Alicia Gillies and put the Boltz up 1-0. Five minutes later Melanie Young scored on a tremendous individual effort to put the visitors up 2-0 in the middle frame.
The Lady Wolves scored with under one minute to play in the second to make the game interesting.
The third period began with the Ice Boltz attacking at every opportunity and they had numerous scoring opportunities but Sudbury's goaltending stood up to the challenge.
Finally, four minutes into the third, Malory Dominico picked the pocket of a Sudbury defenseman and went in alone to score a pretty backhand goal, putting the Ice Boltz up 3-1 for good. North Bay outshot Sudbury 25 to 8 over the 3 periods of play.
Game 2 of best-of-three series sees a 7.30 pm puck drop at Memorial Gardens on Sunday, February 26th between the two northern rivals.
Should North Bay win, they will advance to the 2017 Provincial Championship in Toronto April 6th to 9th.
There is no charge for admission to Sunday's game.
More information about the Ice Boltz Midget AA Hockey Club can be found at http://nbgha.com or contact Ray Irwin at 705-494-0048.