Bisons U10 girls hockey wins Mid-South divisional title

The Buffalo Bisons girls U10 hockey team won all three playoff series in the Lower Lakes Female Hockey League (Ontario, Canada).

The Bisons beat Kitchener, Ontario twice in a best of three series in round one and followed up with a two-game sweep of Niagara Falls, Ont. in round two. In the division finals, the Bisons beat year-long rival North Halton, Ont. in a close three-game series.

The Bisons advance to the Ontario atom finals on April 5.

The Bisons won game one against North Halton, 3-2, at the Nichols School in North Buffalo in dramatic fashion.

North Halton closed the gap to 3-2 with 1:30 remaining. The Bisons then took a penalty with 40 seconds left and used strong defense and goaltending to hold them off.

Rachel DePerio (Amherst) contributed on all three Bison goals with one goal and two assists. Abby Welch (Clarence) scored the second goal and Abby Cleary netted the winning goal. Assists came from Bridgette Prentiss and Grace Page.

Goalie Amber Dubill (Clarence) held the league-leading North Halton team to two goals with a solid effort.

Game two at the North Halton arena in Acton, Ontario provided a disappointing 5-3 loss for the Bisons despite Welch scoring twice.

Jillian Koop also scored for the Bisons.

Adding assists were Jessica Phillips with two and Abby Cleary, Michelle Robillard (Orchard Park), and Claire Werynski (Amherst) with one.

The Bisons won game three, 1-0, this past weekend in Acton, Ont.

A tremendous all-around team effort allowed the Bisons to shut down North Halton's league leading scorer and provide a shutout for substitute goalie Page. The team's regular goalie, Dubill, was out of town for the last two games of the series.

Cleary scored the game-winning goal on a rebound form Kailyn Burke (Tonawanda) and Robillard.