Quebec's new development female hockey program paid instant dividends following the province's first-ever national Esso Cup title.
The midget girls' development team Nord capped the province's best-ever showing in the five-year history of the Esso national tournament, coming back in the third period to post a 5-2 victory over the North Bay Ice Boltz in the gold-medal final at the Bill Copeland Sports Centre in Burnaby on Saturday.
Trailing 2-0 early in the final period, Quebec Nord exploded with five unanswered goals, including three in a two-minute span of the third frame, capped off with the game-winning tally by Katia Boulianne at 5:42.
"I can't believe it. I'm not a goal scorer. But I did it and I'm proud of myself and my team," said Boulianne after the game. "It's the most amazing feeling in the world."
While the five-goal Quebec rally caught some, including the Ontario supporters by surprise, Esso tournament stats paint a different picture.
Of Quebec Nord's 31 total goals scored in the tourney, 19 of them came in the final 20 minutes.
Earlier in the round-robin portion of the tournament, Quebec defeated North Bay 3-1 with three power play goals in the final stanza. The Nord also erupted for five goals in the third period against the Atlantic champions from Halifax in an 8-1 rout on April 23.
"We were just focussing on the third period," said Boulianne. "We are good in the period. We have a lot of confidence, we never give up and that's why we are the winners now."
Both Quebec and Ontario staged mini upsets in the semifinal to move into the championship final.
Quebec Nord avenged an opening day 5-2 defeat to the Regina Rebels with a 6-3 win over the Western Canada reps.
Boulianne, who had just one point for Nord in the preliminary rounds, scored her first goal of the tournament and added a second assist in the semifinal win.
Ontario, which lost an earlier 5-4 decision in a shootout to the eventual four-time medal-winning Edmonton Thunder, coasted into the final with a 5-1 victory over the Pacific region champion.
Edmonton won its fourth medal and third bronze following a 1-0 win over Regina in the consolation final on Saturday.
Host Fraser Valley Phantom was unlucky in its final preliminary round game on April 25, losing 1-0 to the same Ontario club in a game that decided which team would move on to the championship round.
In the Esso Cup final, North Bay took a 1-0 lead on what appeared to be a harmless shot on goal from the blue line that caught a surprised Valerie Lamenta high glove side.
But the 17-year-old Montreal native was solid the rest of the way despite giving up a second goal to Ontario's player of the game Corie Jacobson to start the final period.
Quebec mounted its comeback just minutes later, when team goal-scoring leader Audrey Belzile potted her sixth of the tournament, deflecting a wrist shot on goal from player of the game Eve-Audrey Picard.
After the ensuing faceoff, Roxane Daley slapped home a shot from the point from overall scoring leader Valérie Audet to knot the contest at 2-2.
Picard and Alexe Drouin, on an empty-netter at 16:55, also scored for the Nord.
The silver medal for the Ice Boltz was the fifth time an Ontario team has claimeed a top-three placing in the five-year history of the Esso Cup.
North Bay defeated 2012 silver medallist and 2010 champion Thunder Bay 3-2 in double overtime to earn its first-ever appearance at the national midget championships.
