West Ottawa Wild win home ringette provincials in OT thriller, advance to nationals in town
March 10, 2025
By Isabella Disley
The West Ottawa Wild repeated as Ontario Ringette U16 ‘AA’ champions, this time as the host team for the provincials. Photo provided
It couldn’t have been a wilder or more perfect finish for the home team at the Ontario ‘AA’ Ringette Championships.
The host West Ottawa Wild under-16 team gave up the tying goal with under two minutes left in their gold medal game against London, but less than two minutes into overtime, Aurélie Lacourcière completed her hat trick to the delight of the hometown crowd at the Tony Graham Recreation Complex – Kanata.
The 4-3 triumph was West Ottawa’s sixth win out of seven games over four days at the Feb. 27-Mar. 2 provincials, and a repeat Ontario crown for the Wild at the U16 ‘AA’ level.
“Our expectations were that if we played well, we had the opportunity to win it,” signalled Wild head coach Barry Gorham, whose team included six players who have won three provincial titles and four who now own two.
As special as it was to play in their first provincials on home ice, Gorman wanted his team to enjoy some of the benefits of an out-of-town tournament too.
With team bonding at the forefront, the Wild treated it like they were away by renting a room at Wellings of Stittsville – a retirement home close to both of the tournament arenas.
“We had all our team meals and all meetings and all our team get-togethers all day long at this place,” Gorman explained. “The girls went home and slept in their own beds, but from sunup to sundown, we stayed together as a team.
“It was nice that we still felt like we were at an away tournament when we were at home.”
There was another – very Canadian – game-day superstition that fuelled the Wild at the tournament.
“They have these little maple syrup bottles that they bring everywhere where they go and keep topping them up, and they take that shot before every game,” Gorham said with a chuckle.
The West Ottawa Wild U16 ‘AA’ team will represent Ontario at the 2025 Canadian Canadian Ringette Championships. Photo provided
The victory gave the Wild the right to wear the coveted Team Ontario jerseys as the province’s top representative at the 2025 Canadian Ringette Championships, set to be hosted in Gloucester from March 30-April 5.
“We’re trying to keep them kind of level-headed and just continue on all the stuff that we’ve been working on this year, trying to keep them focused and not get too excited at the moment,” Gorman said of the upcoming Canadians.
The U19 bronze-medallist Eastern Ontario Force also booked their place in nationals, as did the fourth-place Nepean Ravens U16s.
It was a double-championship weekend for local teams at the provincials thanks to the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees’ 4-3 victory over Western in the university final.
Other local teams earning podium finishes were the U14 silver and bronze medallists from the Nepean Ravens and Ottawa Ice, and Nepean in 18+ (silver).