Dalbrae Dragons goaltender Hayden Gillies gave his teammates every chance to win during the SSNS provincial hockey tournament, turning in a 1.96 goals-against average in two Division 2 provincial games on Saturday in Inverness.
-by Bill Dunphy
Dalbrae Dragons coach Lewis MacLellan knew it would take a team effort for the girls hockey team to be successful – and he got it.
The Dragons won their fourth consecutive School Sport Nova Scotia Division 2 hockey championship on Sunday in Canning, beating the host Northeast Kings Titans 2-1 in overtime.
Julia MacLellan was the hero of the day, gathering a rebound on a shot by Gracie Kenny and sending the Titans goalie’s water bottle into orbit for the win.
Down to 12 skaters at the end of the tournament, Dalbrae had nine players who scored at least one goal.
“What I liked about it was they knew that they had to work hard, and that they really wanted it,” said MacLellan.
“Our scoring was spread out and our depth players had goals which I was happy for. It really created a bond to make it a team win totally.”
The Dragons started the overtime period on a powerplay and coach MacLellan had forwards Julia MacLellan and Violet MacDonald out on the ice with defensive pairing Breagha MacLellan and Isla Gillies.
“After a minute, Violet changed, Gracie went out, and I was calling for Julia to come off but she had control of the puck. She passed out of the corner to Gracie, and her shot came back to Julia who spun around and hit the water bottle,” MacLellan said. Gillies also picked up an assist on the goal.
In fact, it was a big day for the MacLellan clan, with Lewis coaching alongside his daughter Marisa, and his daughters Julia and Breagha on the ice.
The first period of the championship game was scoreless and Dalbrae took a 1-0 lead in the second on an unassisted goal by Kendall Cameron.
The Titans tied it with 1:29 left in regulation time, but also took a tripping penalty with three seconds remaining to give the Dragons the extra player advantage in overtime.
Katie Margaret MacIntyre was a stalwart in goal for Dalbrae, turning aside 33 shots for the win.
“The Titans were a very good team, one of the tightest we played this year, and Katie Margaret was great for us in both games against them,” said MacLellan.
Dalbrae and Northeast Kings opened the tournament at noon on Friday and the Dragons set the tone by beating them 2-1 in that game.
Gillies scored the lone goal of the first period on a play with Kenny and Isabel Calder made it 2-0 in the second period, assisted by Jaelyn Kenny and Julia MacLellan.
The Titans got one back in the third but MacIntyre shut the door after that for the win.
Dalbrae was back on the ice that evening for a game against the Eastern Shore Coyotes, beating them handily 9-2.
Penny MacDonald had the start in goal for the Dragons, who led 5-0 and 7-2 by periods.
Julia MacLellan and Gracie Kenny each scored twice, with singles from Gillies, Ally Beaton, Calder, Mollie MacDonald, and Breagha MacLellan.
Dalbrae booked their ticket for Sunday’s championship game by beating the Clare Wolves 10-1 on Saturday.
Up 2-1 after the first, the Dragons scored four in the second and four more in the third for win.
Violet MacDonald had a big game with four goals and two assists. Jaelyn Kenny notched a pair, with Julia MacLellan, Gracie Kenny, Calder, Cameron adding singles. Blueliner Addison Kennedy picked up four assists.
MacIntyre, in goal for the win, had a 1.00 goals-against average for the tournament.
The Titans, meanwhile, beat Eastern Shore 3-1 in the final round-robin game and then beat them 6-1 three hours later in the 2nd vs. 3rd semifinal game.
Breagha MacLellan and Kendall Cameron were the only graduating players on the team.
“We knew this tournament wasn’t going to be easy and beating Northeast Kings 2-1 in our first game was important. After that we thought, we can do this,” said Breagha.
“It was a full team effort and a great way to end my high school career,” she said, noting that she will likely keep on the ice playing intramural hockey at St. F.X. next year and playing Senior hockey alongside her mom, Chantelle (Hawley) MacLellan.
Both Breagha and Kendall will have one more kick at the provincial can this weekend as members of the Quad County Whitecaps U18 AA team that are hosting the provincial tournament at the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre.