After its Gold Medal performances at the London Devilettes Senior Fall Classic and the St Catharines Niagara Women’s Annual Tournament combined with its 1st place finish in SOWHL League Play and SOWHL League Championship, the Senior Hericanes entered the Provincial Championship with its sights on a rare perfect season.
Finishing 1st in Provincial Pool play with hard fought victories over Peterborough, Scarborough and London, the Senior Hericanes received a bye to the Quarter-Finals. The first Provincial Playoff Round opponent was Parkhill, who the Hericanes lost to in the previous year’s Gold Medal game after a late 3rd period goal. After being down early in the game and still trailing 2-1 mid way through the 2nd period, the Hericanes stormed back with 3 unanswered goals to avenge the prior year’s loss with a 4-2 victory.
The Hericanes semi-finals opponent was its arch-rivals from Woolwich, who had previously lost to the Hericanes in a sweep of the SOWHL Finals. Down 2-0 mid way through the 3rd period, the Hericanes scored 1 goal to make it close and then with the goalie pulled tied the game with 1:50 left to force the game to sudden death overtime. At the 8:32 mark of the 2OT, the Hericanes scored on a scramble in front of the net to punch their ticket to the OWHA Championship Game.
In the Gold Medal game versus Belmont, the Hericanes took the lead in the 2nd period on a short-handed goal at the end of a 5-3 powerplay. Belmont evened the game with a goal of its own early in the 3rd period. The teams traded scoring chances until the Hericanes went ahead at the 4:19 mark on a tipped point shot. Tenacious forechecking for the remainder of the game rewarded the Senior Hericanes with their first OWHA Championship Gold Medal and complete its perfect 2022-23 season.
The Senior Hericanes would like to thank its team sponsor, Paul Davis, and all those that supported the team through this magical season!