MITCHELL – St. Marys U-16 Snipers had their undefeated streak come to an end here on Tuesday night at the hands of the first-place Mitchell Stingers, falling 4-3.
Snipers got on the board first without even recording a shot on net as Katy Kittmer shot the ring down the length of the ice while killing a penalty. The ring stopped just in front of the Mitchell crease and the Stingers’ goalie chose not to play the ring. The Mitchell defender and Snipers’ forward Jessica Burlingham raced to the ring. Burlingham, unable to touch the ring due to the two-line pass, checked the stick of the defender and the Mitchell player inadvertently put it in her own net to give the visitors the 1-0 lead.
The teams then traded goals in the opening half, as St. Marys took a 2-1 advantage into the intermission break. Cierra Boyer picked up her 10th goal of the season, with assists going to Shayla Lane and Mel Martin. Shots on net were even at 12-12 for the half, with Mitchell getting nine of those shots on the powerplay.
Stingers opened the second half scoring early, then added another just as a Mitchell penalty had expired giving the home team a 3-2 lead with five minutes remaining. However, the lead was short-lived as Jillian Sterkenburg tied the score at 3-3 with three minutes to go as she netted her 13th of the season, with Burlingham picking up an assist.
As the clock ticked away, it looked like a tie was a certainty. Unfortunately, Stingers scored their fourth goal with just 45 seconds left, passing the ring through the Snipers’ defence and through the crease for an easy, open-net goal as goalie Arielle Barber had no chance.
With the loss, St. Marys’ record drops to 6-1 while remaining in second place in the WRRL. Next up for the U-16 Snipers are Goderich Ice Crushers who come to the PRC this Thursday.
