Ice Hockey
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ICE HOCKEY NEWS
Fraser Valley Nets Gold In Girls Hockey
By Charlie McClelland
Sticking to their game plan was pure gold for the Fraser Valley girls hockey team.
They defeated a team from the Vancouver Squamish zone 5-2 to take first place in the 2012 BC Winter Games tournament held at Wesbild Centre in Vernon.
Just seconds into the game, Fraser Valley fired a shot off the crossbar seeming to unnerve goaltender Danielle Wierenga of North Shore. Hard skating with end to end action when at 12:11 of the period Laura DeSantis of Coquitlam took a nice pass and fired the puck deep into the net. Rachel Raffard of North Shore tied it at one at the 6:43 mark.Fraser Valley had two players in the penalty box with two minutes to go in the period. The period ends 1 - 1.
Fraser Valley drew another penalty at the beginning of the 2nd but Vancouver Squamish was still unable to capitalize with man advantage. Minutes later Nicole Vukasovic of Coquitlam scored for Fraser Valley to take a 2-1 lead. More back and forth hockey until at 2:39 Elexa Pakozdy of Port Coquitlam scored for Fraser Valley. Only 49 seconds remaining and Elizabeth Riedl of Port Moody puts Fraser Valley up 4 -1.
Beginning the 3rd period, the Vancouver Squamish team seemed rejuvenated, pushing hard to the net and registering four quick shots, but denied a goal by Fraser Valley goaltender Samantha Shaw on Maple Ridge.
With 5:25 remaining, Mikayla Ogrodniczuk of Vancouver scored for Vancouver Squamish to cut their deficit to 4 - 2, but Fraser Valley scored an empty net goal, coming off the stick of Rachel Raffard for a final score 5 -2.
Fraser Valley coach Roy Jukich of North Vancouver commented on the key to his team's success. "We stuck to our game plan, everybody carried out their assignments and we killed penalties exceptionally well. I can't say enough about the character of this team. Amazing!"
Cariboo Wins Girls Hockey bronze medal
By Charlie McClelland
It will be a happy trip back home for the girls hockey team from the Cariboo.
They won the BC Winter Games bronze medal game at Wesbild Centre in Vernon, 3-1 over the host team from the Thompson Okanagan.
It was a close game all the way through, tied 1-1 after two periods.
It stayed that way until 3:17 left in the third when Madison Fjellstrom from Cariboo scored short handed to take a 2-1 lead.
The 14 year old from Prince George then scored an empty netter with 1 second left to ice it.
The Thompson Okanagan goal was from 13-year-old Alyssa MacMillan of Penticton late in the second period
Hazel Massier, a Quesnel resident and coach of the Cariboo squad was asked what the difference was. “We came to play for 60 minutes. Our main weapon is fore checking. We have been using that the whole tournament."
The scoring hero, Madison Fjellstrom said this about her winning goal,. “I knew that we were shorthanded but I just had to get it done.”
She said it’s going to be a very happy ride home today.
About 200 people were on hand for the game at Wesbild Centre
Fraser Valley is taking on Vancouver Squamish for gold.
Its 2-1 from fraser Valley about halfway through the second period
Cariboo Wins Girls Hockey bronze medal
By Charlie McClelland
It will be a happy trip back home for the girls hockey team from the Cariboo.
They won the BC Winter Games bronze medal game at Wesbild Centre in Vernon, 3-1 over the host team from the Thompson Okanagan.
It was a close game all the way through, tied 1-1 after two periods.
It stayed that way until 3:17 left in the third when Madison Fjellstrom from Cariboo scored short handed to take a 2-1 lead.
The 14 year old from Prince George then scored an empty netter with 1 second left to ice it.
The Thompson Okanagan goal was from 13-year-old Alyssa MacMillan of Penticton late in the second period
Hazel Massier, a Quesnel resident and coach of the Cariboo squad was asked what the difference was. "We came to play for 60 minutes. Our main weapon is fore checking. We have been using that the whole tournament."
The scoring hero, Madison Fjellstrom said this about her winning goal:"I knew that we were shorthanded but I just had to get it done."
She said it's going to be a very happy ride home today.
About 200 people were on hand for the game at Wesbild Centre
Fraser Valley is taking on Vancouver Squamish for gold.
It's 2-1 from Fraser Valley about halfway through the second period.
Fraser River Delta opened the scoring early, stunning the North West team in the Saturday afternoon game at Wesbild Centre. Emily Chau of Tri Cities found a loose puck after a scramble in front of North West's net and slid it by goaltender Kelsey Roberts of Kitimat at 18:14. The jubilation was short lived when just two minutes later, Lauren Smaha-Muir of Smithers tied the game at one.
Gold medal final set for Girls Hockey
By Charlie McLelland
The gold medal in girls hockey at the BC Winter Games will be decided on Sunday.
The team from the Fraser Valley zone will play a squad from Vancouver Squamish at 9:15 a.m. at Wesbild Centre.
The Thompson Okanagan team will play for the bronze medal bright and early Sunday at 7 a.m. against the Cariboo team. Thompson Okanagan beat Vancouver Squamish 2-1 in their final preliminary round game, to get into bronze medal match.
Coralee Mitchell from Heffley Creek scored the first goal for the host team, while 13-year-old Riley Henderson of West Kelowna notched the winner at 10:12 of second period on a power play.
About 400 people were on hand for the game, described as hard fought and exciting.
Despite that loss, Vancouver Squamish got into the gold medal game by having scored more goals during the tournament than the host team.
Kootenay vs. Cariboo North East
By Charlie McLelland
Cariboo started strong, skating hard and forechecking relentlessly. The first period was dominated by the Cariboo team but Kootenay would deny them time and again. Kootenay managed to escape the first period only one goal behind.
The second period was filled with Cariboo penalties. Kootenay had a two man advantage but Cariboo held. Four more minors were assessed to Cariboo, but Kootenay could not capitalize. Cariboo would score once more to end the second period with a two goal advantage.
The third period brought out some aggression from both teams, battling hard along the boards and checking very tight. Sydney Irving from Prince George took a hard check in front of Kootenay's goal. She was slow getting up, but appeared to be okay. Cariboo then had a two man advantage and was able to cash in for one goal.
Final score would be Cariboo North East 4, Kootenay 0.
Goaltender Kali Wells registered the shutout. The Cariboo team was short one goaltender and BC Hockey rules state each team must carry two. She was essentially drafted from Kelowna to play for Cariboo, never having met any of her new teammates. When asked about her team playing short handed for most of the second period, she said, "I just told myself to stay focused and do what you've been doing for the last 30 minutes."
Fraser Valley knocks off Vancouver Island-Central Coast in girls hockey
By Charlie McLelland
Fraser Valley had a very strong first period, displaying sharp passing and hard shooting from the defence, hitting the back of the net four times while allowing only one goal from Vancouver Island/Central Coast. It looked like the Fraser Valley team could run away with this one but period two was more evenly matched. Vancouver Island/ Central Coast had noticeably more energy and jump, and scored two goals to Fraser Valley's one. The score at the end of the second period was 5 -3 for Fraser Valley.
The 3rd period was one of shear strength and determination from both teams. The goalies started pushing back, stopping most everything that came at them. Strong skating and physical contact was relentless and each team would score one more before the end of the game.
Final score for this fast paced game was 6 - 4 for Fraser Valley over Vancouver Island / Central Coast.
Fraser Valley is 2-0 while the Island team falls to 0-2.
Kootenay vs. Cariboo North East
By Charlie McClelland
Cariboo started strong, skating hard and forechecking relentlessly. The first period was dominated by the Cariboo team but Kootenay would deny them time and again. Kootenay managed to escape the first period only one goal behind.
The second period was filled with Cariboo penalties. Kootenay had a two man advantage but Cariboo held. Four more minors were assessed to Cariboo, but Kootenay could not capitalize. Cariboo would score once more to end the second period with a two goal advantage.
The third period brought out some aggression from both teams, battling hard along the boards and checking very tight. Sydney Irving from Prince George took a hard check in front of Kootenay's goal She was slow getting up, but appeared to be okay. Cariboo then had a two man advantage and was able to cash in for one goal.
Final score would be Cariboo North East 4, Kootenay 0.
Goaltender Kali Wells registered the shutout. The Cariboo team was short one goaltender and BC Hockey rules state each team must carry two. She was essentially drafted from Kelowna to play for Cariboo, never having met any of her new teammates. When asked about her team playing short handed for most of the second period, she said, "I just told myself to stay focused and do what you've been doing for the last 30 minutes."
Fraser Valley knocks off Vancouver Island-Central Coast in girls hockey
By Charlie McLelland
Fraser Valley had a very strong first period, displaying sharp passing and hard shooting from the defence, hitting the back of the net four times while allowing only one goal from Vancouver Island/Central Coast. It looked like the Fraser Valley team could run away with this one but period two was more evenly matched. Vancouver Island/ Central Coast had noticeably more energy and jump, and scored two goals to Fraser Valley's one. The score at the end of the second period was 5 -3 for Fraser Valley.
The 3rd period was one of shear strength and determination from both teams. The goalies started pushing back, stopping most everything that came at them. Strong skating and physical contact was relentless and each team would score one more before the end of the game.
Final score for this fast paced game was 6 - 4 for Fraser Valley over Vancouver Island / Central Coast.
Fraser Valley is 2-0 while the Island team falls to 0-2.
Thompson Okanagan 2 Fraser River Delta 5 girls hockey
By Charlie McClelland
The host team lost their opening game of girls hockey at the 2012 BC Winter Games in Vernon.
Fraser River Delta defeated the Thompson Okanagan 5-2 at Wesbild Centre Friday morning.
It was an exciting game with end to end action for a full 60 minutes. Although there was a noticeable difference in size, with the Thompson Okanagan being generally bigger than their opponents, Fraser River Delta coach Melanie Jue said, "What we lack in size, we make up with courage and spirit." The game was tied at 1 after 20 minutes, with Fraser River Delta failing to score with a two man advantage in the dying minutes of the period.
Thompson Okanagan had a two man advantage at the beginning of the 2nd period and also failed to capitalize. Fraser River Delta came out on the winning end of a few scrambles in the offensive end resulting in two goals to end the 2nd period with a lead of 3 to 1.
Cassie Laturnus of Kelowna scored at 15:10 of the third for Thompson Okanagan to make it a one goal game. At 10:39, Emily Chau of Richmond answered back with her 2nd of the game for Fraser River Delta, restoring a two goal lead.
An empty net goal in the dying stages of the game resulted in a final score of 5-2 Fraser River Delta over Thompson Okanagan.
