Despite playing their hearts out in three tough games, all decided by one goal, it just wasn't to be for St. Michael Warriors.
Second ranked Napanee beat host St. Michael 2-1 in the final preliminary round game for the schools on Wednesday at the OFSAA A/AA girls hockey tournament, in Stratford.
It was the second loss for St. Michael, ranked eighth in the 16-team tournament, and they failed to advance from the three game round-robin portion at the provincial championships.
"We needed a tie to move through and unfortunately we just couldn't get that," Warriors coach Mark Flanagan told StratfordToday. "We had a very tough, competitive pool, all one goal games or ties, every team was evenly matched."
Indeed, all but one game among four high schools in Pool B were either ties or decided by a single goal.
The Warriors started the tournament with a 2-1 win over Lambton CC&VI, followed by a 1-0 loss to Dryden.
"I was very proud of the way the girls played," Flanagan said. "We took the play to teams, we didn't get the breaks around the net to get that point or the win."
A few bounces could have changed the outcome, the coach said. Goaltending was also exceptional, he said.
Lambton and Napanee advanced out of the group but both lost their quarterfinal games.
Top ranked St. David beat Lambton 1-0 and seventh seeded Holy Cross upset Napanee, the tournament's second seed, 3-2.
Huron-Perth champion F.E. Madill (4) beat Lorne Park (16) 5-1 and St. Mark (5) beat St. Theresa (9) by the same score.
St. Mark plays Holy Cross and F.E. Madill take on the defending provincial champions, St. David, in the other semifinal.
Both games are Thursday morning. The bronze medal game starts at 11 a.m., followed by the gold medal game at 1 p.m.
Flanagan offered praise to his team but also to teachers at St. Michael, and volunteers, who donated their time to help with the provincial tournament.
Despite the outcome, the future looks bright for the Warriors, the provincial champions in 2015 and 2016.
"The girls gained a lot of experience. Played their best three games of the year. We have lots of girls coming back and lots of experience for next year."
