The midget A Etobicoke Dolphins girls hockey team won the Pittsburgh Girls U19 Thanksgiving Hockey Tournament last weekend, Nov. 30.
It was the second year in a row they won the tournament.
"It was a great and gutsy tournament," said team manager Betty Knight.
In the final championship game on Sunday afternoon the Dolphins played a nail-biting game against the Scarborough Sharks.
The Sharks scored two early goals, but the Dolphins managed to catch up to within a goal mid-way through the third period.
The Dolphins pulled their goalie, Kathryn Rees, with timing running down in the last minutes of the game. "Our cool and fearless head coach, Terry (Rees), mapped out a play to get one final shot on goal," Knight said. "The girls executed the plan perfectly and got the puck over to Kelsey (Watts), who was open in front of the net. She one-timed it home to tie the game with 14 seconds left in the game."
With a minute and nine seconds into overtime, Alison Findlay, alone in the front of the net, scored with a rebound.
The girls didn't start the tournament off strong since they lost their first game on Friday. They had a comeback game on Saturday and managed to tie a Clarington team.
On Saturday afternoon, they had another comeback game despite being behind by three goals against a team from St. Louis.
"Our girls never quit and chipped away with the perseverance and dedication of a team that is really believing in themselves as a squad," she said.
The Dolphins managed to win with a final score of 4-3.
They faced a Leaside team in the semifinals and pulled off a 3-1 win, which got them to the championship game.
This (tournament) win is one to cherish," Knight said. "We had bad breaks, but also good breaks throughout the weekend. We learned how to overcome adversity and seize opportunity."