The Tri-Port Peewee Wild showed some serious growth as a team over the Christmas break, winning bronze medals at a tournament down island in Cowichan Valley against some tough competition.
The Wild were guaranteed four round robin games in the tournament, which ran from Jan. 2-4, and they ended up playing a team from Vancouver in their first matchup.
The Wild won 8-3 thanks to goals coming from Kai Hyatt (x2), Elizabeth Bettenson (x2), Emma Clair, Emily Henschke (x2), and Akira Isaac. Assists went to Adyson Verbrugge, Bettenson, and Madison Frank.
With one game down, the Wild went on to play against Nanaimo the next morning, this time winning 9-5. Goals were scored by Verbrugge (x3), Emma Walkus, Bettenson (x3), and Hyatt (x2).
With two straight wins now under their belt, the Wild faced off against a team from Surrey, which turned out to be a tough one as they lost 8-2. Both goals were scored by Hyatt.
Head coach Ryan Humphrey noted that “the girls played well considering the Surrey team is a C1 team and we are C3 (tiering system).”
Despite the loss, the Wild regrouped and continued on with a morning game against the tournament’s hometown team, the Cowichan Valley Capitals.
According to Humphrey, the game “was amazing, and we came out on top 5-4” with goals being scored by Verbrugge and Hyatt (x4).
With a 3-1 record in the tournament, the Wild had tied Surrey and Richmond with six points each, and it came down to goals for and goals against to decide who would play for first.
“It ended up being Surrey/Richmond for gold and Tri-Port/Cowichan for bronze,” said Humphrey, who added the bronze medal game was “another awesome game and our girls came out on top again with a 2-1 win” with both goals being scored by Hyatt.
Humphrey was very pleased with how the team played, noting that while five of their players were unable to play in the tournament, they were thankful to have picked up two players from the Campbell River Hurricanes, Hyatt and Bettenson.
“A huge thank you to those two girls and their families for making the trip down with us,” said Humphrey, adding, “I am beyond proud of these girls. They all fought so hard, every shift was full on. And Kiara Miller did an amazing job in net.”
The Wild will be back in action at home Jan. 12-13 with a two-game series against the Nanaimo Clippers.