Great expectations

These girls were in it to win it.

The Menihek Girls Varsity Ball Hockey Team captured the regional banner after winning 2-1 against Mealy Mountain Collegiate from Happy Valley-Goose Bay at the Menihek High School gym April 24.

The local team is set to compete in Stephenville May 7 at the AAAA girls' ball hockey provincial championships.

Samantha Carroll-Rolo, Menihek team captain said the regional championship game was difficult with the score tied 1-1 in the second half, but Menihek managed to get in another goal with time running out.

"We just said, 'if we want this girls, we better start running,'" she explained. "We just passed the ball around and kept shooting at the net basically."

Her team proved it had what it took after winning 5-0 in a previous game against Mealy Mountain and 7-0 after the mercy rule was called in a game against E.G. Lambert School from Churchill Falls.

Julia Johnson, Menihek team assistant captain, was given the tournament sportsmanship award.

"They did really well," stated Janine Johnson, Menihek teacher and team coach.

"They're a really young team. Six or seven of our older girls left last year, so there's some girls there who are like 13 years old."

She said she wouldn't want to put too much pressure on the girls since they're young, but admitted there's a lot to live up to because the Menihek girls captured the provincial banner and are the defending champs.

Carroll-Rolo said she's aware teams at the provincials are out to beat Menihek, but thinks if the girls keep working hard, they'll do well.

For many of the girls on the team, regionals was their first time playing ball hockey and Johnson thinks they learned a lot and feels confident they got better as the weekend went on.

"It was good," reflected Carroll-Rolo. "It was fun."