Mayfield Mavericks earn two wins in first three games of the season

December 15, 2022 · 0 Comments

By Robert Belardi

The Mayfield Mavericks opened up their season in girls tier one hockey with two wins out of three games played on Tuesday.

With tier one being played this year in a tournament style, the season officially kicked off on Tuesday at Paramount Fine Foods Centre in Mississauga.

In their first game of the day, the Mavericks took on the Lorne Park Spartans and shut out the Spartans 2-0.

Maria Kiropolis opened the scoring in the first period assisted by Sage Ferris. The second goal of the game came in the third period when Victoria Rooney found the back of the net to seal the victory. Ciera Davies earned the shut out in goal.

In the second game of the day, this bout against the St. Marcellinus Spirit was a very good test for the girls early on in the year.

And it was Rooney who got on the score sheet again for the Mavericks, as she scored the opening goal just under three minutes into the contest.

With chances going either way, including an amazing opportunity to double the lead by Ryleigh White, the Spirit managed to get back into the game.

Off the faceoff to the right of Davies’ goal, A. Johal ripped a shot above Davies’ shoulder to make it 1-1.

In the second period, Johal almost found the back of the net again from the same spot this time on the rush, ringing the puck off of the bar.

The Mavericks, continued to create transition chances and the opportunity finally came just minutes away from the end of the period.

Savannah Hicks broke free on goal and, on the breakaway, ripped the puck past the goaltender blocker side to give the Mavericks the advantage again.

In the third period, S. Vaccari’s shot was saved by Davies and with the puck loose, L. Marchese tapped it home to make the game 2-2 with much of the third period left to play.

But with 58 seconds left in the game, Marchese was penalized for a hit that saw the Mavericks go on the power play.

With just 29 seconds left on the clock, Grier Forbes managed to squeeze the puck in to give the Mavericks an enthralling victory.

“I think I’m just impressed by how the team has come together. We only have one Grade 12, our captain Anna Jeffrey, and she’s really important to the team. We have a pretty good leadership squad as well, and the way that they’ve brought the girls into the culture and into the team and made them feel welcome, I think goes a long way into how the girls are playing,” said head coach Jon Forbes after the game.

“We told the girls in between the second and third it was getting beyond physical. I was proud of the way they skated through. They have a couple of really skilled players on Marcellinus, but they have a couple of aggressive players at the same time. That can be overwhelming and intimidating, but our girls continued to skate through it and that’s why they got the penalty at the end. It’s the fact they didn’t retaliate. Proud of them for that.”

In their final game of the day, the Mavericks fell to the St. Martin Mustangs 4-0.

The girls will play their final three games of the season on February 16, 2023 back at Paramount FFC Arena.