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Team Bauer topples Team Sonnet to win the Canadian leg of the Dream Gap Tour

Montreal’s Team Bauer defeated Team Sonnet, 4-2, in the Secret Dream Gap Tour championship in Calgary

In an exciting end to the Calgary Secret Dream Gap Tour stop, Montreal’s Team Bauer took home the championship, 4-2, over Toronto’s Team Sonnet. It was a tight game most of the way, with a scoreless first and a third period that was all tied up until the 5:32 mark, but Montreal pulled ahead and sealed a well-deserved victory.

Goal by Goal

Team Bauer: 1 - Team Sonnet: 0

After a scoreless opening period, Jessie Eldridge scored off a scrum in front to break the deadlock 4:23 into the second. She punched it in past Toronto goaltender Shea Tiley, with Marie-Philip Poulin and Karell Emard assisting.

Team Bauer: 2 - Team Sonnet: 0

Catherine Dubois doubled the lead for Team Bauer at the 11:29 mark of the second, with Poulin and Sam Isbell picking up the assists.

Team Bauer: 2 - Team Sonnet: 1

Sarah Nurse kept it a really short-lived two-goal lead for Montreal, scoring just 18 seconds later to get Team Sonnet on the board. Jocelyne Larocque picked up the lone assist.

Team Bauer: 2 - Team Sonnet: 2

Brianne Jenner scored on an absolute snipe off a nicely-executed faceoff play to knot things up with just 23 seconds left in the second period. Nurse had the assist on the faceoff win.

Team Bauer: 3 - Team Sonnet: 2

Who else but Marie-Philip Poulin? She put Team Bauer ahead with only 5:32 remaining in regulation. Eldridge had a great feed to Jill Saulnier on the initial shot; she then picked up Saulnier’s rebound and fed it to Poulin, who buried it.

Team Bauer: 4 - Team Sonnet: 2

Sarah Lefort sealed it for Montreal with an empty-net goal with 1:39 left.

Top Performances

Sarah Nurse, F, Team Sonnet: Nurse was key to Toronto getting back into the game in the second period and turning the tables a bit heading into the third. She scored the goal to cut into Team Bauer’s lead and then won the faceoff draw that led directly to Toronto’s tying goal with 23 seconds left in the period.

Jessie Eldridge, F, Team Bauer: Eldridge’s goal and assist gave her seven points for the week, first among players 24 or younger at the tournament. She’s had a really strong outing in Calgary and has really showcased her skillset as a power forward.

Marie-Philip Poulin, F, Team Bauer: Poulin’s talents were on full display this week. She led every player at the showcase in goals and assists, and scored (as per usual) the biggest goal of the tournament, notching the game-winner for Team Bauer. She assisted on two of their other goals today as well. It was pretty typical Poulin on Sunday evening: creating grade-A chances all throughout the game and helping to keep Team Sonnet’s offense contained on the flip side.

Jocelyne Larocque, D, Team Sonnet: I think it’s fair to say that Toronto’s defense was slightly overwhelmed today by Montreal’s stacked offense, and it didn’t help that Laura Fortino went down early after crashing into the goal post. But Larocque played a nice, active game and was key to getting that first goal for Team Sonnet. She was a steady presence this week on a blue line that showcased its depth and energy.

Other Observations

  • We’ve seen some really strong performances in Calgary from the younger forwards, particularly those who did not make the cut for Canada’s centralization roster. Eldridge and Sarah Potomak (Team ScotiaBank) each had seven and five points, respectively. Loren Gabel has proven to be an elite goal-scorer at this level. You could certainly make a case for her, at the very least, to be centralized, but I think the games this week showed just how deep Canada’s forward pool really is.
  • On the reverse side of that, we saw some really good performances out of Canada’s younger D who will be centralized come July. Ella Shelton looked great for Toronto. I thought Claire Thompson was very steady as well, and Erin Ambrose is showing she has everything it takes to be a standout two-way defender.
  • I actually need every conversation between Marie-Philip Poulin and the refs to be mic’d up from now on./
  • Big credit to Ambrose for this huge block in the second period after what I’ll admiringly call one of Ann-Renée Desbiens’ adventures out of the net. Nobody does aggressive goaltending better than Desbiens; she looked really solid this week for Team Bauer./

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