2019 National Women's Under-18 Championship

ATLANTIC SHUTS OUT MANITOBA FOR SEVENTH-PLACE FINISH

JESSICA GOWANS

WINKLER, Man. – Cassie McCallum (Rothesay, N.B.) was perfect between the pipes, and Shani Rossignol (Drummond, N.B.) scored the lone goal to lead Team Atlantic to a 1-0 victory over Manitoba on Friday afternoon to claim seventh place at the 2019 National Women’s Under-18 Championship.

Rossignol found the back of the net early in the middle frame, scoring just 2:35 in. Off a won face-off in the offensive end, Atlantic set up shop and cycled the puck around the Manitoba zone. Catherin Foulem (Dieppe, N.B.) tipped the puck towards the net, and Rossignol was able to poke it home under a sprawled-out Meagan Relf (Oakbank, Man.) in the Manitoba goal.

It was a tight contest from the drop of the puck, with the two teams trading chances in all three periods and playing to an even 34-34 on the shot clock. In the first, it looked like Manitoba had taken the lead, but a goal was waved off.

It was another back-and-forth period in the second, with Atlantic trying to stretch the lead after Rossignol’s goal and Manitoba trying to pull even. Manitoba had the edge in play in the third period but couldn’t find a way to solve McCallum.

The Atlantic netminder was stellar, turning away all 34 shots she faced. The shutout was her first of the tournament in her second game appearance. She was especially strong in the third period, stopping 11 shots in the frame as Manitoba pressed to find the equalizer and force the game to overtime.

At the other end, Relf had her own strong performance for Manitoba, stopping 33 of 34. Her strong effort kept Manitoba in the game as it looked to pull even in the third.