Soriano Plays Key Role in Huskies JUEL Semi-Finals Win

On May 6, 2012, a pesky 12 point, 9 rebound performance from North Toronto Huskies’ Julia Soriano (5’5″, G, Michael Power, 2012) played a big role in their 74-66 JUEL Semi-Final win over the Tri-County Thunder.

Soriano’s constant hustle led to her 12 trips to the line on offence, plus 3 steals and several more forced turnovers on the defensive end.  This meant trouble for her opposing  Thunder Guards.  Although only 5’5” in height, Soriano matched up very well against the Thunder’s Erica McFadden (5’7”, G, Central Wellington, 2012) by more than matching her energy and intensity and by disrupting McFadden’s timing by using identical speed especially when defending the ball.

The game tipped off however with the Thunder getting off to a hot start on the strength of five 3-pointers early in the First Quarter.  This allowed them to jump out to a 17-9 lead.  One Tri-County scoring source was the 3-pointers from Brooklynn Wright (6’3″, C, Jacob Hespler, 2013), who connected on two of the four she hit during the game.  Some quick adjustments by North Toronto allowed the Huskies to go on a bit of a run of their own.  Their 13-1 run gave them a 24-18 lead by the end of the First Quarter.

This was when the see-saw battle started to take place. The game was tied at 37 at halftime, and Tri-County held on to a slim 3 point lead going into the Fourth Quarter.  During that time, the speed and finish of Guards Lindsay Shotbolt (6’0″, G, Bill Crothers, 2012) and Sami Hill (5’10”, G/F, Eastern Commerce, 2013) helped to maintain progress for the Huskies.  Katie Polischuk (6’0″, G/F, St John College, 2012) and Erica McFadden responded for the Thunder.

But as the game wore on in the second half, Cheyanne Roger (6’2″, F, Michael Power, 2013), who is most effective when asserting her strength in the paint, really made her presence felt to help her team wrestle away a tight game from the Thunder.  Being able to feed someone of her size and ability was more than the Thunder could bare.   And, the shooting from long range that was such a factor in the beginning of the game for Tri-County, was not able to be maintained down the stretch due to the Soriano led tight defense, resulting in the 74-66 Husky victory.

North Toronto was led in scoring by Cheyanne Roger’s 18 points and 8 rebounds and Lindsay Shotbolt’s 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Tri-County had 54 of their total 66 points from Katie Polischuk (19 points 10 rebounds), Erica McFadden (18 points, 14 rebounds) and Brooklyn Wright (17 points including 4-for-5 3-pointers).

The win moves North Toronto on to the Gold Medal game and relegates Tri-County to the Bronze Medal game.