The Petrolia Bantam Girls hockey team has been reclassified from B to BB.  In order for the team to compete at the Provincial championships they have to playoff against Sarnia, Lakeshore, Sun Parlour and Chatham.

The first game of the play downs found the team up against league rivalry Lakeshore who has also been reclassified.  It was a very tough battle for the first two periods.  The game remained scoreless until halfway thru the second period when Sarah Hardman scored on a pass from Darian Limb and Kristin Vokes.  Lakeshore tied the game with less than 2 minutes left in the second period.   Petrolia came alive in the third period and scored 3 unanswered goals to win the game 4-1.  Petrolia’s winning goal came from Karly Dobbin assisted by Sarah Hardman and Toni Fraser.  Erica Lochner then shot from the point to make the game 3-1 and Rachael Simon rounded out the scoring on a pass from Erin Toth. 

The second game of the play downs was a Lambton County rivalry between Sarnia and Petrolia.  Sarnia scored a scramble goal on Amelia Maniuk in the second period.  This proved to be their first and last goal of the game.  Sarah Hardman started Petrolia’s scoring early in the third period on a pass from line mate Darian Limb.  Petrolia took a penalty with 3:00 left in the game to leave them short handed for 2 minutes.  The Oilers don’t ever seem to let this situation get them down and have a great average of short handed goals.  Karly Dobbin won the draw deep in their own end and fought to carry the puck into Sarnia’s end.  A hard shot on Sarnia’s goal tender gave a rebound that was shot right back at the net again.  The shot turned into the winning goal as it was deflected into the net by Danielle Campbell.  The Oilers came home with a 2-1 victory. 

The Oilers have two more Provincial qualifiers.  The first this Saturday, February 23^rd in Petrolia vs Windsor at 4:20pm and the last one on Wednesday, February 27^th in Chatham. 

The team has also qualified for league playoffs in the Bantam BB loop.  Three teams were reclassified from B to BB which led to league playoff pre-qualifying games.  The bottom three BB teams played a one game knockout with the three reclassified B teams.  Petrolia was placed up against Woodstock.  Petrolia walked away from Woodstock’s home ice with a 3-0 win.  Once again Amelia Maniuk stood strong in net for her 16^th shutout of the year.   Kate Turner scored what proved to be the game winner on a pass from Karly Dobbin.  Darian Limb and Sarah Hardman assisted each others goals to make the score 3-0.  The Oilers now start league playoffs against #1 ranked London.  The series will be a 4 point series.  The first game will be played February 29^th in Watford at 6pm.  The second and third game if necessary will be played in London on March 1^st and 2^nd.