Southeastern District: Parity in 16U

By Jason S. Rufner, 03/27/18, 5:30AM MDT

Narrow goal differential tiebreaker used to advance teams from round-robin

Perhaps the most competitive division of the USA Hockey Southeastern District Girls Tier II Tournament was found in 16U, specifically when it came to the round-robin stage. Three teams collected two wins apiece, forcing goal differential to be used as a tiebreaker.

The Carolina Junior Hurricanes and Tampa Bay Crunch earned passage into the championship game over the Northern Virginia Ice Dogs on the basis of a plus-1 goal differential. Northern Virginia finished off its tournament with a 6-0 victory over the Montgomery Blue Devils, but fell three goals short of equalizing Carolina and Tampa Bay in goal differential.

Appropriately, in the 16U title game, March 18 at the Reston SkateQuest in Reston, Virginia, the Hurricanes edged the Crunch 1-0.

Goalies standing on their heads

Maddie Esposito of Potomac Lady Patriots 19U halted 23 shots in a 6-1 win over the Nashville Admirals. Ansley Cunningham of Florida Bulldogs 14U stopped 12 shots to keep Team Carolina off the board in a 4-0 win.

Lilly Rogers of the Tampa Bay Crunch 16U turned in 10 saves in a 4-0 shutout of the Montgomery Blue Devils that was 1-0 entering the final period.

Putting the biscuit in the basket

Alexis Fitzsimmons and Jordan Ray provided all the offense the Florida Bulldogs 14U needed in their 4-0 win over Team Carolina, as Fitzsimmons and Ray tallied two goals each.

Katherine Grinter of the Carolina Eagles 19U poked in a pair of goals in a 5-3 victory over the Nashville Admirals. Not to be outdone, the Admirals’ Heather Ajakie tallied two goals in that same meeting.

In their final outing before appearing in the championship game, the Potomac Lady Patriots 19U saw Nancy Benedict find the net twice in a 6-1 win over Nashville.

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District Champions

Youth Tier I

14U: Florida Alliance

15-Only: Team Maryland

16U: Washington Little Capitals

18U: Tampa Scorpions

Girls Tier II

14U: Florida Bulldogs

16U: Carolina Junior Hurricanes

19U: Northern Virginia Ice Dogs

Northern Virginia representing

The only program to place teams in all three girls’ divisions of the Southeastern District Tournament was the Northern Virginia Ice Dogs.

Playing close to home in three local rinks, Northern Virginia put squads into the title round of the 19U and 14U tournaments, winning the 19U crown. The 14U club won twice and outscored opponents 22-11, but fell twice to the Florida Bulldogs.

The Ice Dogs just missed landing a team in the 16U finale, tangling up in a three-way tie after round-robin play, but were ruled out by goal differential.

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc