STEPHENVILLE Western had an early lead, but it slipped away and so did the gold medal.
Ashley Stratton notched a hat trick and Jessica Davis scored twice as Eastern came back to defeat Western 5-3 in the gold-medal showdown at the 2014 provincial AAA bantam female hockey championship Sunday morning at the Stephenville Dome.
Jessica Gould had a two-goal outing for Western, while Erin Morgan scored the other goal in a losing cause.
Western held a 3-1 lead after two periods, but Eastern caught the Western girls on their heels with two quick goals in 90 seconds to open the final stanza at the Stephenville Dome.
Davis potted the winning marker with just 1:53 left in regulation time and then Stratton put the game out of reach with an empty-net goal with 51 seconds left on the scoreboard.
The following is a look at how things unfolded in round-robin games at the Stephenville Dome over the weekend:
Eastern 8, Tri-Pen 1
Jessica Davis, Ashley Stratton and Emily Fagan scored two goals apiece for the Eastern girls.
Tori Carter and Alison Dearing rounded out the scoring for the winners.
Kaitlyn Maybe was the lone marksman for the Tri-Pen entry.
Western 4, Northern 1
Jelena Gillard had two goals and an assist for the winners, while Jasmin Walters and Emma Reid had the other goals.
Madison Hancock lit the lamp for the Northern girls.
Central 3, Tri-Pen 1
Laura Horwood (2) and Mary Murphy supplied the offence for the Central representatives.
Kaitlyn Mayne replied for the Tri-Pen squad.
Eastern 5, Northern 2
Jessica Davis had a hat trick for the victors, while Emily Fagan and Ashley Stratton had single markers.
Katie Peddle and Andria White scored for Northern.
Western 4, Central 0
Jelena Gillard (2), Samantha Dominix and Alyson Moores suplied the offensive punch for the Western side.
Eastern 4, Central 1
Ashley Stratton (2), Jessica Davis and Allison Dearing scored for the winners.
Laura Horwood was the lone marksman for the Central squad.
Western 6, Tri-Pen 1
Jelena Gillard (2), Emma Reid, Jessica Gould, Kaylee Geeron and Alyson Moores supplied the offensive surge for the winners.
Lauren O’Driscoll scored for Tri-Pen.
Northern 3, Central 1
Katie Peddle, Hailey Hibbs and Madison Hancock dented the mesh for the Northern representatives.
Renee Gardner scored for Central.
Western 1, Eastern 1
Laura Brown scored for Western.
Sidney Squires replied for Eastern in the lowest-scoring game of the tournament.
Northern 4, Tri-Pen 0
Madison Hancock paved the way for Northern with a two-goal performance, while Jenny Soper-Bessey and Joann Wall had the other goals.