The North Simcoe Capitals Hockey Team

The North Simcoe Capitals Novice Rep team played in the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association’s Lower Lakes Female Hockey League in the 2018-19 season. The team was assembled by coach Dan Pellarin and Assistant Coaches Dylan Seca, Aaron Coutts, Mike Mansapso, Brendan (Brew) MacKell, with Trainer Jenn Leroux and Team Manager Erin Kusek.

In the pre-season, they established their game with a win vs loss record of 5 – 0. This was just a precursor of things to come. Over the course of the season’s tournament play, they won Gold Medals at the Markham-Stouffville Stars Fest, the Ancaster Fall Shootout, and the Barrie Shark Fest. In the regular-season league, they played against teams from the North Central Orangeville Tigers, the Barrie Sharks, the Brampton Canadettes, the Orillia Hawks, the North Halton Twisters and the Clearview Ice Cats, where they established a record of 22 wins, two losses, and two ties while scoring 107 goals and giving up only 25 goals with 82 penalties minutes.

When the season ended for league play, they entered a round-robin playoff series which saw them finish with a record of 4 wins to advance to the Lower Lakes Championship. In that series, they had three wins against two losses to earn a Silver Medal. Their record advanced them to the Provincial Round Robin Playoffs, where they met teams from Kingston, Oakville, and Cambridge. With wins in that series, they moved on to the Quarter Finals, where they beat a team from North Bay, advancing them to the Semi-Final match against St. Catharines. With success in that game, they played the finals against Oshawa, where they won the Provincial Championship, becoming the first girls’ team from Midland to win a provincial hockey title.

The team was comprised of Arianna Pellarin, Nevin Ritchie, Emily Mannapso, Kallie Seca, Janica Pearson, Maeve Parent, Grace Kusek, Rebekah Leroux, Nathalie (Tally) MacKell, Leah Sibley, Daelia Coutts, Marley Racine, and Esme van der Weg.