Atikokan squads strike gold

The Atikokan Angels skated away with the gold medal in both the Belle and Tween divisions at a ringette tournament in Emo last weekend.
In the Belle final against the Emo Bandits, the Angels skated hard, handled the “puck” with authority, and shut down Emo’s offence, especially in the second half, en route to a 6-2 win.
Cristin Happy led the way with four goals while Marina Morelli and Samantha Law added one each. Amy Flatt and Trista Barker each scored for Emo.
Atikokan’s first test came against Dryden, which they won going away 12-3. Happy once again was the offensive spark, scoring seven goals, while Morelli added three.
Jessie Ridler and Lisa Lindsay netted singles. Aubree Miller (two) and Melissa Keating replied for Dryden.
Facing Rainy River in their second game, the Angels once again proved to be superior, skating away with a 13-4 victory. This time it was Morelli who led the way with four goals while Happy had three.
Erin Lindsay and Leslie Clark each netted a pair while Lisa Lindsay and Christy Stimson added singles.
The Rainy River goal scorers were not provided.
Their third game proved tougher for the Angels against the Emo Bandits but they prevailed 9-3. Happy had four goals, Morelli netted two, while Erin Lindsay, Clark and Law cashed in the others.
Meanwhile, the Bandits opened the tournament in fine fashion, dumping Rainy River 10-2. Trista Barker, Jody Faragher, Stacey Angus, and Shelley James bagged two each while Amy Flatt and Dolly Teeple scored singles.
Rainy River scorers were not provided.
Then against Dryden, the Bandits robbed the visitors 9-5, with Angus rattling home three goals. Barker added two, with singles going to James, Faragher, Teeple, and Amanda Galusha.
In Tween action, the Atikokan Angels had to beat Rainy River by at least nine goals to take the gold. They did and more–winning handily 13-1.
Atikokan opened the double round-robin with a 3-1 loss to the Emo Bandits. Carling Barton scored twice for Emo while Brook Shabatura got the other.
Amanda Wilson replied for Atikokan.
But the Angels fought back to edge Rainy River 6-5 on goals by Amanda Wilson (three), Jennifer Lindsay (two), and Crystal Manns.
Laurie Ivall led Rainy River with three goals while Steffie Wright and Melissa Smith had singles.
In their second game with Atikokan, the Emo Bandits came out on the short end of a 6-4 score. Jennifer Lindsay was the Angels’ offensive spark with five goals while Erica Manns got the other.
Tara Lloyd paced Emo with two goals while Stephanie Strachan and Brook Shabatura added singles.
But Emo overcame that loss by nipping Rainy River 7-4. Lloyd, Barton and Shabatura all scored twice while Nikki Baker tallied the other.
Emo later beat Rainy River 11-5 in their second match. Lloyd had six goals while Barton added two. Jayme Strachan, Sarah Barton, and Shabatura had one each.
Rainy River goal scorers from these two games were not available.