The Sanderson Sports Orangeville Tigers Atom BB girl's hockey team recently got a little taste of international competition playing a home-and-home exhibition series against the Buffalo Bison's girl's hockey club.

After defeating Buffalo 4-2 at Alder Arena on October 11th, the Atom BB girls headed south into New York State for the rematch on November 1st.

The game was played on the large international ice surface at Buffalo State College Arena.

The Bison's started with an early 1-0 lead as the Tigers goaltender, Brittany Shand, was held up at the border crossing and didn't start the game until mid-way through the first period.

Molly Mullin, dressed as a right-winger, stood tall between the pipes turning away a couple of Buffalo chances but was not equipped for a sizzling snap shot from the top of the circle.

Buffalo then scored two quick goals to go up 3-0 midway through the second, despite Shand's acrobatics.

The Bison's then looked to put the game out of reach as the Tigers Erica Greshuk was called for tripping and, less than a minute later defenseman Kailey Persons was also called for tripping, to give Buffalo a two man advantage.

But the solid defensive play of Julia Mutton and Maggie Scaife and the aggressive checking of Jayde Lavoie killed off both penalties.

The Tigers clawed back early in the third, as Morgan Poirier cleared the zone to Greshuk who relayed to Victoria Klimek who sped past the Buffalo defense and fired a shot into the top corner.

Less than three minutes later, Kirsten Traves scored an unassisted goal by winning the draw in the Buffalo end, taking it to the net and stuffing the biscuit home. The remainder of the game was a see-saw battle, but Buffalo finally scored with less than three minutes left in the third and added an empty-netter to seal the 5-2 win to even the series.

However the fun was not over as Lynn and Mary Persons had organized a special event for the Tigers with tickets to the Buffalo Sabres game against Washington.

The girls, parents and brothers dined on chicken wings and pizza at a nearby restaurant and walked to the HSBC Arena to watch the Sabres hammer the Capitals 5-0.

All the girls saw themselves on the video scoreboard at centre-ice and cheered as the board announced 'The Buffalo Sabres welcome the Orangeville Tigers'.

It was a great finish to the international road trip made possible by the generosity of the Persons family and the enthusiasm of the girls, their parents and families.