By Hockey Canada

DAWSON CREEK, B.C. – It seemed like the horn and celebration music was sounding non-stop in Saturday’s second game of the day at the 2012 National Women’s Under-18 Championship, as Quebec topped Saskatchewan 8-4 to claim fifth place.

It may not have been the result Quebec had aimed for coming into this year’s national championship, but it was a solid game for a team that holds its hockey standards high, with Geneviève Bannon (Candiac, Que.) and Catherine Dubois (Québec City, Que.) contributing two goals apiece to lead their team to an impressive finish to the week in the creek.

Saskatchewan also came out strong, however, with Kaitlin Willoughby (Canwood, Sask.) cracking the scoreboard midway through the opening frame. But it was Quebec to notch one first in the second, with Bannon getting her first of the game just 46 seconds in the period. A penalty put Quebec down in the game again, with Saskatchewan’s Kennedy Ottenbreit-Daunheimer (Grayson, Sask.)
accepting the puck from Jolene Kirkpatrick (Traux, Sask.), to make it 2-1. Kirkpatrick and Ottenbreit combined for another about eight minutes later to put Saskatchewan up 3-1.

But a traditionally highly-ranked Quebec team couldn’t take the deficit any longer – Bannon and Alexandra Labelle (St-Louis-de-Gonzague, Que.) answered with goals of their own before the period up, including one while playing shorthanded, to tie it up at three apiece.

The third period was Quebec’s chance to use the man advantage, with Dubois and Ève-Audrey Picard (Longueuil, Que.) both scoring on the PP in the first five minutes of final frame to gain a 5-3 lead. Dubois notched about midway through the period, with defenceman Chelsea Ziadie (Pointe Claire, Que.) shooting from the point to make it 7-3 at 17:51.

Despite only a couple of minutes left on the clock, the buzzer kept sounding, with team captain Emily Clark (Saskatoon, Sask.) making a last ditch effort but putting one past the Quebec goal line at 18:08, and Picard responding for Quebec again in the final nine seconds of the game for the final 8-4 score.