By Catherine O’Hara, REVIEW STAFF

The Waterdown District High School girls’ hockey team remains undefeated in tournament play after outscoring their opponents by 17 goals in last week’s New Year’s Classic.

On January 10 the 17-player squad, led by coaches Jenifer Long and Bill McEwen, traveled to York University where they shut out their opponents in all matches.

The Lady Warriors secured four convincing wins at the Toronto tournament, including a 6-0 victory over Dunnville in the finals, to bring home the gold medal.

At a previous tournament, held in Burlington on December 15, the WDHS girls experienced much of the same success.

“The team played four games and won all four,” said Long.

The Lady Warriors’ first match during the Holiday Classic Jamboree resulted in a 1-0 win for the Waterdown team. In game two, the girls shut out Notre Dame Catholic Secondary School, 2-0. The team also defeated Oakville’s Abbey Park, 1-0, in its third game of the tournament.

In the finals, the girls faced off against Saltfleet High School, also a Hamilton-Wentworth Interscholastic Athletic Council (HWIAC) division 1 team.

“It was kind of neat,” said Long, adding, “We ended up playing them in the championship and beat them in overtime, 3-2.”

With two tournament wins under their belts, the Lady Warriors are motivated to capture the city championship win. The Waterdown team is currently third in regular league standings with seven points. Since the start of the season in November, the girls have played six games that resulted in three wins, two losses and one tie.

Standing first and second in league play are Ancaster and Saltfleet, teams that outscored Waterdown 2-1 and 5-2, respectively. The losses, noted Long, occurred early in the season. “We had quite a few new players this year, so I think it took a little bit for everyone to gel and work well together.”

With four more games before the playoffs, the Lady Warriors are determined to make it to the top.

“The hardest part for us will be getting out of our division with Ancaster and Saltfleet; that will be the hardest challenge for us,” said Long.

The girls’ strength, explained the coach, remains making good decisions in the opposing team’s end. However, the Waterdown squad will have to work on its neutral zone play and breaking out of their team’s end if they want to secure the championship title.

“We try to be a little too fancy in our own end, we give the puck away a little bit,” noted Long.

Should the Waterdown Lady Warriors taste success in the HWIAC playoffs, slated to take place starting on February 22, Long is confident the team will do well at the Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association (SOSSA) and Ontario Federation of School Athletic Association (OFSAA) championships.

The players, said Long, are “all pumped up.”

The WDHS girls’ hockey team, which includes players Jessica and Ashley Langdon, Holly Patterson, Logan Boyd, Lauren Wildfang, Harmony Anderson, Rachel Bartlett, Rachel Lee, Ellen MacRae, Kristin Gilmour, Danyelle Raspberry, Michelle Davidson, Sarah Poyton, Lauren Carroll, Amanda Kong Quee, Paige Solda and Rachel Armstrong, was slated to face off against Westmount at North Wentworth Arena on Tuesday afternoon.