Taranis Contracting Peewee Queens 2009-10 News

March 8 -- The Taranis Contracting Peewee Queens have returned from the Culver Academy Showcase in Indiana with a silver medal performance.

In the club's opener Thunder Bay defeated the St. Louis Lady Blues by a 2-1 score.

After St. Louis opened the scoring midway through the first period the Queens Whitney Scott would pull her team level on an assist by Emily Oleksuk.

In the middle frame the same duo would combine for the game-winner as Oleksuk set-up Scott for her second of the game.

Megan Joseph-Seeley picked up the win in net for the Queens.

Game two saw Thunder Bay drop a hard fought 1-0 decision to Detroit Little Caesars with Joseph-Seeley suffering the loss despite a strong perfromace between the pipes.

In their final round robin game, the Queens took on the Chicago Young Americans and would come away with a 4-3 victory while earning themselves a berth in the final.

Sara Smith put the Queens up in the first period only to see Chicago tie it early in the second period.

Lydia Johnson restored the lead just 15 seconds later while Oleksuk tallied to the Queens up a pair in the third period.

The Young Americans fought back making it 3-2 with three minutes to go, but Smith's second of the game added some insurance as they would hang on for the win.

Brooke Basaraba was solid in net for the Queens picking up the win.

Advancing to the championship game where they took on St. Louis for a second time the Queens would fall 3-2 in the final that required overtime and a shootout before the outcome was decided.

Following a scoreless opening period Samantha Isbell put Thunder Bay out in front only to see the Blues knot the score later in the frame.

Scott would then give the Queens there second lead in the title game, but St. Louis would force overtime notching the equalizer with four minutes to go in regulation.

Following a five-minute, four-on-four overtime session, which decided nothing a shootout was needed to decide the outcome.

However, despite a stellar performance by Basaraba and a great goal by Oleksuk, the Queens would come up short and have to settle for the silver medal from the event that featured a number of top ranked peewee teams from the U.S.

March 5 -- The Taranis Contracting Peewee Queens are off to Indiana this weekend to compete in the Culver Academy Showcase.

The Queens open up action Saturday at 1 p.m. when they take on the St. Louis Lady Blues and wrap-up day one action at 7 p.m. with a meeting against Detroit Little Caesars.

Providing the opposition in Thunder Bay's third game will be the Chicago Young Americans with that contest taking place Sunday morning at 8 a.m.

The club's final contest goes later that day and will be determined on their results from round robin play.

Feb. 16 -- It was a successful trip to Michigan for the Taranis Contracting Peewee Queens who put up some positive results against some elite competition from the Detroit area.

They began play Feb. 13 vs. Belle Tire and came away with a 5-0 victory buoyed by the combined shutout goaltending of Brooke Basaraba and Megan Joseph-Seeley.

Scoring for Thunder Bay in the opener were Samantha Isbell, Whitney Scott, Emily Oleksuk, Allison Pages and Lily Vescio.

The highly-touted Belle Tire squad bounced back later in the day topping the Queens 5-2.

Lydia Johnson and Karli Nummikoski had the goals while Joseph-Seeley suffered the loss in net.

In the club's final game played on Feb. the squad doubled up Honeybaked 4-2 defeating a team that was ranked 11th in the U-12 AAA rankings.

Scott, Oleksuk and Isbell all notched their second goals of the weekend while Danielle Veneruzzo had the other. Basaraba was in net for the win.

The Queens also had the opportunity to take in some NCAA women's college hockey, as the Niagara Purple Eagles were in town facing the Wayne State Warriors.

Two Queens alumni in Kathleen Bortuzzo and Jacqueline Spring skate for the Niagara team, who skated for a 4-2 victory over Wayne St.

Jan. 23 -- The Taranis Contracting Peewee Queens have returned home from the Winter Classic in Eden Prairie, Minn., with some hardware after defeating Woodbury, Minn., 4-3 in the bronze medal game.

After a scoreless first period Sara Smith got Thunder Bay on the board early in the middle frame finishing off a feed from Danielle Veneruzzo.

Woodbury would tie things up four minutes later, but the Queens re-took the lead when Samantha Isbell found the back of the net with two seconds left in the second stanza.

Once again Woodbury would battle back to knot the proceeedings only to see Emily Oleksuk team up with Whitney Scott to give the Queens their third lead the game.

Just seconds later though Thunder Bay's opponent would level the affair for a third time however Allison Pages would fire the game-winner with just 29 seconds left in regulation.

The Queens next out of town action will be in mid-February when they travel to Detroit, Mich.

Jan. 23 -- Despite outshooting their opponent badly the Taranis Contracting Peewee Queens will have to settle for a chance at a bronze medal at the Eden Prairie Winter Classic in Eden Prairie, Minn.

Thunder Bay dropped a 3-1 decision to Lakeville South Saturday even with a 32-10 shot margin in their favour.

The Queens fell behind 1-0 just 15 seconds into the contest, but managed to tie it in the second period on an unassisted goal by Whitney Scott.

However Lakeville South would make the most of their opportunities in skating to the victory.

The Queens will now play in the third place game of the tourney on Sunday where they will go up against Woodbury, Minn. Game time is 4:15 p.m. CT.

Jan. 22 -- The Taranis Contracting Peewee Queens got off to a good start at the Eden Prairie Winter Classic winning their opening game Friday in the Minnesota community.

Thunder Bay kicked off the eight-team tourney with a 2-1 victory over Eagan, Minn.

Following a scoreless opening period, Lily Vescio opened the scoring for the Queens in the middle frame scoring on a point shot at 9:02.

Eagan would knot the score before the second stanza was out, but Samantha Isbell notched the game-winner in the third period on an assist from Emily Oleksuk.

The Queens, who out shot Eagan 22-6 in the contest, return to the ice Saturday afternoon when they take on Lakeville South at 3:30 p.m. CT in their next game.

Jan. 16 -- The Taranis Contracting Peewee Queens dropped a 3-1 decision to the Edina Hornets Saturday at St. Luke's Icebreaker Invitational event in Duluth, Minn., in what turned out to be the club's final game at the event.

With the game scoreless into the third period, much in part because of the stellar goaltending by Brooke Basaraba in the Thunder Bay net, Edina finally opened the scoring midway through the final frame.

They would tack on two more quick goals after that to take a three-goal lead while Kristin Martin set-up Allison Pages for the lone Thunder Bay marker with just 2:53 left in the game.

The Queens could not muster any more offensive in the late stages and saw their tournament come to an end finishing with a 2-1 record and not advancing to the title game.

Jan. 15 -- The Taranis Contracting Peewee Queens improved their record to 2-0 at St. Luke's Icebreaker Invitational event in Duluth, Minn., after they defeated Stillwater, Minn., 7-2 on Friday.

Breaking open a 2-2 scond period tie Thunder Bay rolled to victory from there.

Karli Nummikoski and Danielle Veneruzzo scored for the Queens in the first period.

Whitney Scott tallied twice whole solo markers went to Sara Smith, Lily Vescio and Kristin Martin.

Megan Joseph-Seeley was solid in net for the peewee side as she picked up the win in net.

The club completes round robin play Saturday at 3:45 p.m. vs. Edina, Minn.

Jan. 15 -- The Taranis Contracting Peewee Queens are off to a good start at the St. Luke's Icebreaker Invitational event in Duluth, Minn., as they skated to a 5-0 shutout over Spring Lake Park.

Samantha Isbell helped lead the way offensively with a strong game scoring once and dishing out two assists.

Isbell potted the eventual game-winner at 9:27 of the first period on an assist by Emily Oleksuk.

Three more goals by Thunder Bay in the middle frame put them well in control as Oleksuk, Karli Nummikoski and Whitney Scott all found the back of the net.

Lydia Johnson of the Queens completed the scoring in the game supplying an unassisted effort in the third period.

Brooke Basaraba and Megan Joseph-Seeley combined efforts to post the shutout facing only eight shots while their teammates fired 33 on the SLP net.

The club goes in search of a second straight win Friday evening when they take on Stillwater, Minn., at 9:30 p.m.

Dec. 14 -- A late power play marker by Samantha Isbell was the only goal of the game as the Thunder Bay Taranis Contracting Queens peewee Queens edged the Air Bravo Queens 1-0 score in the bantam A division final of the Thunder Bay Queens Showcase Weekend at Fort William First Nation Arena.

Danielle Veneruzzo, who set-up the game-winner for the peewees, picked up the player of the game award for the Taranis Contracting Queens while Emily Armstrong was recognized for the Air Bravo bantams. 

Brooke Basaraba recorded the shutout for the peewee side while Jayde Turcotte suffered the tough, late-game defeat in net for the bantam A Queens.

To advance to the championship contest the peewees went unbetean posting a 1-0-2 record.

In their opener they used a hat-trick by Samantha Isbell to get by the Thunder Bay Fury 5-2.

Summer Spence gave the Fury the early lead only to see Allison Pages and Isbell put the Queens up a goal after the opening period.

Danielle Veneruzzo pot the eventual game-winner early in the final stanza for the Queens .

Isbell would add some insurance for the peewees tallying twice to complete her three-goal performance.

Megan Joseph-Seeley was the winning goaltender out lasting Rebecca Williams in the Fury net.

Game two saw the Queens battle to a 2-2 draw with Dryden.

Sam Kosik gave Dryden the early lead with a marker in the opening frame, which they would hold until the third period when Sara Smith tied things up for Thunder Bay .

Kristin Martin gave the Queens a brief lead with 10:29 to go only to see Syd Bruetsch knot the score a few minutes later.

Brooke Basaraba of Thunder Bay and Heather Madussi of Dryden were the respective goaltenders.

It was another tie in their final round robin game as they skated to a 4-4 draw with Fort Frances.

Whitney Scott, Sara Smith, Isbell and Veneruzzo all tallied for Thunder Bay.

Nov. 29 -- The Thunder Bay Taranis Contracting Queens finished play at the Cake Eaters Classic in Edina, Minn., with two wins and a loss.

They skated to a 2-0 victory over Eastview/REV in their last contest buoyed by the shutout goaltending of Megan Joseph-Seeley.

Courtney Latta had the game-winning goal scoring from the point in the first period while Emily Oleksuk's effort in the final frame added some insurance.

Despite their 2-1 record the Queens did not qualify for the semifinals.

The club returns to tournament action next weekend when they compete in the Neebing Minor Hockey Association Thunder on the Ice event.   

Nov. 27 -- The Thunder Bay Taranis Contracting Queens have started the 6th annual Cake Eaters Classic in Edina, Minn., with a win and a loss.

In their opener the Queens took on the top-ranked Eden Prairie Eagles and fell by a score of 7-1.

Samantha Isbell scored the lone goal for the Queens while Megan Joseph-Seeley and Brooke Basaraba shared the goaltending duties.

Thunder Bay would bounce back in their next contest edging the Minnesota Centennials thanks to a third period shorthanded goal by Emily Oleksuk.

Shirley Garrity, Allison Pages and Isbell also tallied for the Queens.

The peewees face Eastview/Rev on Saturday afternoon to wrap-up round robin play.

Nov. 24 -- The Thunder Bay Taranis Contracting Queens are bound for Minnesota this weekend as they prepare to compete in the 6th annual Cake Eaters Classic in Edina.

The peewee side starts off against Eden Prairie , Minn. , at 10:30 a.m. CT on Friday and conclude that day's action against Centennial at 5:15 p.m.

Saturday sees the Queens tangle with Eastview REV at 6 p.m. to finish up round-robin play.

In the peewee grouping the three division winners and a wildcard team will advance to the semifinal games on Sunday.