{"id":32807,"date":"2023-03-23T19:09:07","date_gmt":"2023-03-23T23:09:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=32807"},"modified":"2023-03-23T19:09:09","modified_gmt":"2023-03-23T23:09:09","slug":"central-york-junior-panthers-get-two-point-games-from-cranney-and-degeer-in-decisive-4-0-win-over-toronto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/central-york-junior-panthers-get-two-point-games-from-cranney-and-degeer-in-decisive-4-0-win-over-toronto\/","title":{"rendered":"Central York Junior Panthers get two-point games from Cranney and Degeer in decisive 4-0 win over Toronto"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Mikayla Cranney and Cheyenne Degeer generated timely offence for the Central York Junior Panthers in their regular season finale on Sunday afternoon at the Stronach Aurora Recreation Complex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cranney and Degeer contributed two points each to the Panthers\u2019 decisive 4-0 victory over the Toronto Aeros to close their regular season on a winning note.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Panthers\u2019 goaltender Brooke Vaccari earned the shutout by turning aside 22 Aero shots. The high-flying Panthers finished the regular season in second place in the East Division with a 28-10-5 record and qualified for the OWHL U22AA Elite Championship Weekend. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to their tilt with Toronto, President of the CYGHA and Panther Coach Mark Dubeau introduced his organization\u2019s fourteen graduating players\u2014many of whom are heading to NCAA or OUA destinations in September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Junior Panther grads celebrated their accomplishments individually by skating over to their coaching staff and Aurora Mayor Tom Mrakas for a ceremonial photo, then carried that good feeling into the first period versus the Aeros.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Panthers\u2019 Captain Abby Lunney\u2014a gold medal-winning member of Canada\u2019s National Women\u2019s Under- 18 Team and bronze medal winner at the Canada Winter Games– put her team on the scoreboard at 12:14 of the opening frame. Lunney made a strong weak-side cut to the net and one-timed a perfect feed from Cheyenne Degeer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Captain\u2019s 18th<\/sup> goal gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead.  Kaitlin Teixeira\u2014the Panthers\u2019 third-leading scorer \u2013 earned her 20th assist of the regular season on what turned out to be Lunney\u2019s game-winning goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Central York squad carried the play for most of the period. However, Panther Goaltender Brooke Vaccari bailed out her teammates\u2019 periodic defensive miscues with a strong game between the pipes and earned the shutout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coach Dubeau praised his netminder\u2019s effort versus the Aeros: \u201cBrooke\u2019s been a rock for us.  She was solid this afternoon for sure.  She stayed focused and she was on point.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Equally on point was Cheyenne Degeer\u2019s unassisted short-handed goal one minute into the second period. Degeer\u2019s marker at 17:59 was a masterful solo effort that delighted the Panthers\u2019 faithful gathered at the packed Stronach Recreation Complex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The goal emboldened the Panthers, deflated the ninth-place Aeros, and became a turning point in the game, according to Central York Coach Marc Dubeau: \u201cWe came out strong to start the game, but fell back in a defensive struggle.  Cheyenne\u2019s goal really turned it around for us and we stopped sitting back. We created excellent transitions to offence.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Panthers\u2019 offensive transitions\u2014as well as their skill and speed \u2013 were on equal display less than ninety seconds later when Kayla Kondo finished a perfect cross ice pass from Mikayla Cranney. Kondo\u2014the Panthers\u2019 leading scorer over the regular season \u2013 roofed the puck just under the crossbar and above Aeros\u2019 goaltender Lyla MacKinnon to give Central York at 3-0 lead into the second intermission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cranney\u2019s speed was again on full display three minutes into the third period. The smooth-skating forward generated a clear-cut breakaway from Makenna Slocum\u2019s pass and buried the puck stick-side at 16:38 to provide the Panthers with a commanding 4-0 over the 12-29-5 Aeros. The Panthers played with urgency with a 4-0 lead which pleased Coach Debeau.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe last few games we\u2019ve struggled to finish games.  Other teams we\u2019ve been facing lately are playing to make the playoffs so we\u2019ve faced urgency. I thought they finished well as they should in front of big crowd at the rink.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

SEASON NOTES
Three Panthers have committed to NCAA Division 1 schools:  Hailey McGuire (Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire); Hannah Clarke (Providence College in Providence, Rhode Island); and Makenna Slocum (Stonehill College in Easton, Massachusetts).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Panthers finished the season in second place in the 10-team U22AA OWHL\u2019s East Division with a 28-10-5 record. Their 61-point total and .709 winning percentage was the 5th<\/sup>-best record in the 26-team league. Their overall record in 2022-23 is an impressive 38-12-6-1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kayla Kondo finished 15th<\/sup> in the OWHL regular season scoring race with 29 goals, 16 assists, and 45 points in 41 games.  She was the Panthers\u2019 top scorer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The IIHF game featuring Team Sweden and Team Switzerland on April 2 at the ACC is a big event for the Panthers\u2019 organization, according to CYGHA President Mark Dubeau.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll be setting up tables and distributing post cards to the young ladies in attendance.\u00a0 Most importantly, this is an opportunity for local girls to see these world class athletes who are here for the World Championships.\u00a0 This is great access for them\u2014up close and personal at the ACC with top athletes from Sweden and Switzerland skating on the same ice as our players do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Jim Stewart<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mikayla Cranney and Cheyenne Degeer generated timely offence for the Central York Junior Panthers in their regular season finale on Sunday afternoon at the Stronach Aurora Recreation Complex. Cranney and Degeer contributed two points each to the Panthers\u2019 decisive 4-0 victory over the Toronto Aeros to close their regular season on a winning note. Panthers\u2019 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[24,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-sports","category-sports"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-8x9","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-23 22:59:13","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32807"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32807\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}