SCORE BOARD

KITCHENER, ON – It is four consecutive gold medals for Ontario Red at the National Women’s Under-18 Championship after a 4-3 win over Quebec in front of 1,300 home-province fans in Sunday afternoon’s gold medal game at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium.

Carolyne Prevost was the big scorer for Ontario Red, registering the game-tying goal at 6:24 of the final period and the game-winner with just 2:24 to go as the Ontarians ran their winning streak at the U18 Women’s Nationals to 18 games, dating back to a 5-4 round robin loss to Quebec at the 2001 event in Trois-Rivières, QC.

Catherine White and Jessica Jones also scored for Ontario Red, who held Quebec’s vaunted powerplay to just two goals on eight changes, and zero on five chances in the final 40 minutes. Amanda Mazzotta made 25 saves, many of the spectacular variety, and was a worthy recipient of Ontario Red’s Player of the Game award.

Audrey Bélanger-Cournoyer, with her tournament-best eighth goal, and Camille Dumais scored in the opening period for Quebec, and Vanessa Plante added a goal in the second period, as Quebec led 3-2 heading into the final period before Prevost’s heroics. Bélanger-Cournoyer led the tournament with 15 points (eight goals, seven assists), followed by linemates Marie-Philip Poulin (three goals, 10 assists) and Camille Dumais (three goals, six assists).

Leslie Oles picked up the Player of the Game award for Quebec, who had to settle for their fourth consecutive silver medal at the National Women’s Under-18 Championship, while Roxane Douville turned aside 24 of the 28 shots she faced in a losing cause.

MANITOBA WINS BRONZE

Jenelle Kohanchuk’s goal 7:39 into the third period proved to be the winner as Manitoba took home the bronze medal from the 2007 National Women’s Under-18 Championship with a 3-2 win over Team Atlantic on Sunday morning.

Team captain Chelsea Karpenko scored twice for Manitoba, who avenged their November 2005 loss to Team Atlantic in the bronze medal game, and took home a medal for the first time since 2001, when they joined with Saskatchewan to form Team West.

AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED

In addition to the two medal games, the award winners were announced for the 2007 National Women’s Under-18 Championship:

Most Valuable Player: Audrey Bélanger-Cournoyer (Quebec)

Top Forward: Marie-Philip Poulin (Quebec)

Top Defenseman: Samantha Watt (Alberta)

Top Goaltender: Delayne Brian (Manitoba)

Most Sportsmanlike Player: Laura McIntosh (Ontario Red) & Marlee Fisher (Ontario Blue)

The National Women's Under-18 Championship is an event that brings together the top women’s players under 18 years old from across Canada. Teams participating include a combination of provincial and regional teams: British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, two teams from Ontario (Red and Blue), Quebec and Team Atlantic (New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador).