The Atom AA Twisters travelled to the Nationals Capital this past weekend to take part in the Kanata Girls Hockey Tournament hosted by Sensplex. In the first game of round robin play the AA team was off to a slow start dropping the match to the Burlington Barracudas 2-0. As they entered game two the AA’s turned on the jets to storm to a 1-0 lead with the goal scored by Sophia Viola, unfortunately the Toronto Leaside Wildcats were quick to ruin the momentum the Twisters had gained scoring 2 quick goals. In the third the Wildcats added another to pick up a 3-1 win sending the Twisters back to their hotel for the night with a 0 and 2 record after day one in Ottawa. Saturday morning the AA team knew they had to quickly turn their play around to finish third overall in their pool, playing against the Durham West Lightning, Saffyre Flood picked up what would eventually be the game winning goal for the Twisters with 3:53 remaining in the first period, the Twisters would go on to add 4 more goals scored by Sara Hillock, Hailey Tanti, Carly Chalmers and Olivia Van Sickle. In game three the Twisters looked like a total different team on the ice picking up 5 goals, 2 of which were scored on the power play and a shut out shared by both Kalleigh Cromwell and Sophie Lust. The AA team would advance to the quarter finals set for 4pm on Saturday afternoon where the stage was set to take on the Peterborough Ice Kats. The Twisters came out flying in the elimination game, half way through the second period Olivia Shamblaw got the Twisters on the board with a nice wrist shot from the slot assisted by Hillock and Salmon. In the third period the Twisters add 3 more insurance goals before running into penalty trouble playing the last 5 minutes of the game short handed. Lust played a strong third period in goal shutting the door and keeping the Ice Kats off the scoreboard to help her team earn a 4-0 win on route the semifinals. In the semifinal game early Sunday morning the Twisters carried their momentum from Saturday onto the ice as Cassandra Randell got the team on the board early in the first period with a nice shot from the point. Ella Petrusa then provided the Twisters with an insurance goal on the power play 3 minutes after the initial goal, Petrusa’s goal would stand as the game winner as Aurora found the back of the net early in the third. Tanti added a goal while Van Sickle added a pair to help the Twisters earn a much deserved 5-1 semifinal victory. The AA team then went on to face the hometown Kanata Rangers in the Championship game at the Bell Sensplex, the teams had previously faced off on two other occasions splitting the two games they played. The championship was a hard fought match by both teams with North Halton striking first, the goal was scored by Salmon 5 minutes into the frame. As the game continued with a back and fourth battle the score remained 1-0 until the half way point of the third when Kanata event the score at one goal a piece. Petrusa responded quickly for the Twisters 45 seconds later on what would stand as the Golden goal as North Halton went on to win the game 4-1, adding another two goals to bring home gold!
Game 1: 2-0 for Burlington Violet Salmon (MVP)
Game 2: 3-1 for Toronto Leaside Sophia Viola (G, MVP) Cassandra Randell (A)
Game 3: 5-0 vs Durham West Hailey Tanti (G, 3A), Sara Hillock, Olivia Van Sickle (G, A) Saffyre Flood, Carly Chalmers (G), Megan Linton (MVP)
Quarter Finals: 4-0 vs Peterborough S.Flood(G, A), Olivia Shamblaw, Jordyn Palmer, S.Viola (G), A.Coish-Ricci (2A), S.Hillock, Violet Salmon (A), C.Randell (MVP)
Semi Finals: 5-1 vs Aurora O.Van Sickle (2G, MVP), C.Randell, E.Petrusa, H.Tanti (G), Hillock, 
S.Viola, O.Shamblaw, C.Chalmers, S.Flood, Adeline Coish-Ricci (A)
Championship: 4-1 vs Kanta E.Petrusa (2G, A, MVP), S.Hillock, V.Salmon (G), J.Palmer, C.Randell, O.Shamblaw, Taya Robinson, M.Linton (A)