The U15B team for the Collingwood Lightning Girls Hockey Association bolted to success this year making it to the podium at provincial championships.
The team entered and won gold at three B-level tournaments this year, including events in St. Thomas, Mississauga and the inaugural Collingwood Thundersnow Classic.
As the winners of the Ontario Women's Hockey Central North division, the U15B team was only one goal short of qualifying for the Southern League Championship and was one of three girls hockey teams from Collingwood to qualify for the Ontario Womens' Hockey Association provincial championships on April 12-14 in Ajax/Scarborough.
Coach Trevor Littlejohns said the team went undefeated in round robin play and knocked the defending champs from Mount Forest out of the running.
LIghtning won the quarter-final game against Kanata (ranked number one in the province) and pushed Sarnia to overtime in the semi-finals, but ultimately lost that game putting them in the bronze medal matchup against their on-ice nemesis from Bancroft.
"What a performance," said Littlejohns of the bronze medal game. "I have no idea how they found the energy and motivation to play that game. We battled through adversity and scored two goals that didn't count, one of which was a brilliant goal by Meckenzie Brannigan in double overtime."
The team rallied and Kortney Bullock broke through Bancroft's defence for a goal in the sixth period (third overtime) with eight minutes left to help Lightning strike victory.
Another banner will now hang proudly at the home rink to mark the U15B Lightning provincial bronze medal win.
