In what could've been her final high school game, Annabella Van Berkel had five goals to help St. Peter's women's team take the GBSSA AAA girls' hockey championship with a 5-1 win over Banting on Thursday afternoon at New Tecumseth Recreation Centre.
It's the third regional title for the Panthers' girls' team in the last five years (2022, 2024).
Her standout performance featured four goals in the second period following Lily Hatfield's openingh goal in the first for the Marauders. Van Berkel then added another in a physical third to cap off the the championship victory.
"We knew they were going to put some people on me," she said postgame. "So we obviously tried to move the puck around but when I got my chances I just needed to bury them. I did that."
The Barrie native's first goal was scored on a turnaround wrist shot from the slot, and her third and fifth goals each came on breakaways, the latter on the power-play.
In a very physical game, she became the ire of a very pro-Banting crowd in Alliston. She definitely heard it in all three of her trips to the penalty box.
"They were going at it all game with us and chirping me in the box but you just got to out and just use it as motivation."
Her third penalty came in the midst of what nearly became a line brawl when teammate Peyton Leigh and Bree Yanni of Banting had a vicious exchange at the end of the play leading to both players taking each other to the ice.
Overall, the physical play began in the second period, when Banting's Sydney Dobbin delivered a dangerous check to St. Peter's' Gryffin Kirk, which drew significant attention from the nearby Panthers' bench.
Kirk left to the dressing room following the hit, but returned to the bench minutes later. Dobbin was assessed a two-minute minor for body contact on the play, although St. Peter's coaches clamored for a major penalty.
Van Berkel saw the play from the penalty box, and scored her first goal of the game just over three minutes later.
After recently committing to Colgate University (NCAA Division I, ECAC), she will not play out her senior year at St. Peter's next season.
Knowing that, it only fueled her more on Thursday.
"Since grade nine, this whole group, we've worked so hard and we've had our ups and downs together and just being able to finally put it together today is just the best feeling for us all because we worked so hard."
With the Central York Panthers of the OWHA U22 league, the Barrie native has 37 goals and 14 assists in 43 games.
She will play at the OFSAA championships later this month in Windsor and Lasalle, but says she and the team's focus will be on the festivities more than the competition.
"To not get too high about it and not get too low," she says. "Just enjoy the moment and embrace it because it's only going to happen once."
First Period
1. Banting, Hatfield 1 (Whittaker, Gagne) 13:02.
Penalties — Dobbin BMHS (body contact) 5:15, Van Berkel SPCSS (body contact) 9:19.
Second Period
2. St. Peter's, Van Berkel 1 (Crossland, Leigh) 4:40
3. St. Peter's, Van Berkel 2 (Leigh) 5:21
4. St. Peter's, Van Berkel 3 (Chivers) 9:18
5. St. Peter's, Van Berkel 4 (Gates, Bobbie) 10:21.
Penalties — Van Berkel SPCSS (body contact) 0:18, Dobbin BMHS (body contact) 1:00, Hatfield BMHS (body contact) 13:40.
Third Period
5. St. Peter's, Van Berkel 5 (Bobbie, Redden) 11:11 (pp).
Penalties — Yanni BMHS (head contact) 10:35, Bobbie SPCSS (interference) 11:29, Van Berkel SPCSS (head contact), Leigh SPCSS (head contact), Glass SPCSS (head contact), Miller BMHS (head contact), Adams BMHS (head contact), Yanni BMHS (head contact) 12:51, Kirk SPCSS (unsportsmanlike conduct) 14:42.
Shots on Goal by
St. Peter's not recorded.
Banting not recorded.
Goal — St Peter's: Glass (W,1-0); Banting: Simms (L,0-1)
Power plays (goals-chances) — St. Peter's: 1-4; Banting: 0-4.
Meanwhile, the boys' GBSSA was defended by Nantyr Shores, which beat St. Peter's boys' team 4-1 in the championship game at Innisfil Recreation Complex.
Miles Reilly scored twice for the Tritons, who claimed their second regional title in a hostile atmosphere with the Panthers hosting in Innisfil, relatively close to the Nantyr Shores campus in Alcona.
"We just came in wanting to beat those guys, he said postgame." "That's a bad blood rivalry there and I'm glad we beat them. Home or away, it doesn't matter."
Colton Lapierre's power-play goal proved to be the game-winning goal, and Justin Campbell added an insurance marker later in the first.
Sheamus Gunn had St. Peter's only goal to close out the frame, but the team struggled to generate chances in the second half of the contest. By the third period, the game had already felt decided, despite the three-goal margin.
Both the girls' and boys' championship games featured impressive crowds and student support, signs that support for student athletes is being revived in a big way across Simcoe County.
"Being able to go back to school and celebrate with the whole school will be great," Reilly added. "Our hockey team is a big part of our school, the whole school loves it."
First Period
1. Nantyr Shores, Reilly 1 (Campbell, Charlesbois) 2:34
2. Nantyr Shores, Lapierre 1 (pp) 9:15
3. Nantyr Shores, Campbell 1 (Naray, Lee)
4. St. Peter's, Gunn 1 (Loughson) 13:02.
Penalties — Campbell NSSS (cross-checking) 2:57, Ludgate SPCSS (cross-checking) 7:06, Whelen SPCSS (body contact) 8:01, Loughton SPCSS (roughing) 13:02.
Second Period
5. Nantyr Shores, Reilly 2 (Lee) 13:54.
Penalties — Ayres NSSS (interference) 5:02, Flores SPCSS (slashing) 8:43.
Third Period
No scoring.
Penalties — None.
Shots on Goal by
Nantyr Shores not recorded.
St. Peter's not recorded.
Goal — Nantyr Shores: Ward (W,1-0); St. Peter's: Elliot (L,0-1)
Power plays (goals-chances) — Nantyr Shores: 1-4; St. Peter's: 0-2.
