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One Wild weekend in Hardy

The Wild Women’s hockey tourney returned to the Don Cruickshank Memorial Arena last weekend, playing down to four finals Sunday.
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The Warriors went unbeaten on the weekend to take the top spot in the Men's Division of the annual Wild Women Hockey Tournament.

PORT HARDY—The Wild Women’s hockey tourney returned to the Don Cruickshank Memorial Arena last weekend, playing down to four finals to accommodate this year’s record turnout of teams.

In the Ladies Division, Sunday’s final saw the Juiceheads and Downpour replay Saturday’s final tiering game which ended in a tie between the sides. This time around the Juiceheads ran out 5-0 winners, Sarah Case earning the shutout in goal.

The scoreline is somewhat misleading as there was little to choose between the sides for long periods. Kristy Mellow’s early strike gave the Juiceheads the advantage but it took until midway throughout the second half to double the lead.

But once they found the scoring touch, the Juiceheads added three in quick succession, Kirstie Bradshaw, Emily and Carly Heavenor providing the crucial touches.

Kelly McLaughlin crowned the win with the fifth in the closing minutes.

In the Mens A final, a four-goal second-half onslaught helped the Warriors to a 5-1 victory over the Islanders.

Shelby Cockell opened the scoring for the Port Hardy side on a power play, firing home from the high slot.

The one-goal advantage stayed in place until after the ice-cleaning break when Corey Swain broke forward and laid off for Eddie Walkus to smash a one-timer into the net.

Two minutes later the Warriors went three up when David Shaw squared the puck for Jake Colbourne to hammer home from the right.

Cockell doubled his tally soon after following a Brett Demoe break from his own zone. Demoe carried the puck to the end line and round the goal before passing back for Cockell to collect and pick his spot through traffic from the blue line.

Cockell was denied a hat trick with six minutes left when Islanders goalie Adam Hall got his pads on the shot. Walkus was on hand to convert the rebound, however.

Graham McKay spoiled Jason Saunders’ shutout and grabbed a consolation for the Islanders with five minutes left to play on a steal and score.

Three Mainline goals in less than a minute early in the first period put the Whalers on the back foot and put Mainline on the road to a comfortable 11-3 win in the Mens B Division.

Chad Mackenzie, Ethan Shaw, Jordan Mercer and Clayton Brown each scored a brace for Mainline with Tom Cessford, Travis Pearson and Adam Dmetrichuk also finding the net. Barry Wilson scored twice and Shay Peterson added the consolation for the Whalers.

The Ice Devils continued its unbeaten streak in the round-robin into the Oldtimers final, topping WW1 3-1 in a hard-fought battle.

Al Ruston opened the scoring for the Devils, lifting the puck into the net from the left circle. Gord Jones made it two before the break, tipping home a Rob Brittain delivery on a power play.

WW1 pulled one back in style in the second, Bill Milligan driving the puck and laying off behind for Shane Murdoch to fire into the roof of the goal past net minder Aaron Hinton.

Rushton had the final word, however, breaking forward to go one-on-one with Pat Penney, rounding the keeper and slotting home into the empty net.