The Rebels played in the "Upper Novice" division. This was one level higher than we have ever played before in tournament. Our division, including the Rebels, was made of a group of six teams: Oakland Seals, Black Widows, San Diego Heartbreakers, Tucson Chilly Peppers, and Chi-Cal (a mix of players from Chicago and Southern CA).

The rink (an Ice Chalet) left something to be desired -- the bench was basically a ledge and it wasn't very cold. The ref(s) made very few calls in the game which was amazing considering the physical nature of the Widows.

They scored first and we tied it up quickly as both goals were in the second period on the same shift. Elise scored our goal in a beautiful carry around several defense and the goalie!

With about 5 minutes left in the game, the Widows scored on an odd bounce of the puck getting them the game winner and a 2-1 victory.

We played an outstanding first game (I think it was the best Rebels' first game of a tournament) and everyone was pressuring them (the Widows) to make mistakes (which they did).

We won this one 2-0 with some great first period goals and solid defense to preserve the shutout (way to go Katherine).

Mary Beth scored the first goal of the game quickly in the first period. Minutes later, Karen had the second goal with an assist from Colleen.

If the first game was on one end of the scale with very few penalties, this game was at the other end. The refs handed out penalty after penalty: 12 penalty calls during the game; six in the first period including a 10-minute misconduct; 9 penalties against Chi-Cal versus 3 against the Rebels.

Unfortunately, we weren't able to capitalize on any of the power plays (we played quite a few minutes at 5-3, too). Unfortunately, we lost 1-0 against this chippy team on a power play goal (Jill was in the box for a tripping penalty) in the second period.

On the other hand, the Oakland Seals got the #1 seed in the playoffs and faced off against the Widows and won the championship! The score was 3-1 until about 32 seconds left in the 3rd period. The Widows pulled their goalie and they scored to make it 3-2.

Congratulations to the Oakland Seals!

It was interesting to note that 2 other teams came out to cheer on the Seals - and boo the Widows (apparently the Widows make few friends on the ice.....). Five Rebels and several San Diego Heartbreakers players were cheering on the Oakland Seals to beat the Widows in the final. It was a very exciting game!