The Tri-Port Wild women's Bantam/Midget team picked up three big wins that propelled them into a tie with the
Juan De Fuca Grizzlies for 1st place in the league standings. "The girls played great from start to finish. They
have steadily improved all year long and it shows," said Coach Andrew Laming. In their first game on Saturday,
Jan. 30, the Wild travelled down island to the Juan De Fuca Arena to face off with the Grizzlies, and they came
out firing the puck at the Grizzlies' net early in the 1st period. Bree-Anna Henderson scored twice for the Wild,
once at 6:43 and again at 3:10, to put them up 2-0 going into the 2nd period. The Grizzlies battled hard in the
2nd period, scoring three goals of their own to take the lead 3-2, but the Wild came out focused and fought
back in the 3rd period with three straight goals from Taylor Ranger, Kerrigan Sharpe, and Henderson again,
who completed the hat trick, to go up 5-3 and steal the win from the Grizzlies' clutches."They came out and
dominated right from the drop of the puck. It was a great game at both ends of the ice," said Laming. Lisa
Brown, the Wild's team manager, also mentioned that "in the two games we’ve played each other, they’ve won
one and we’ve won one," and that the two teams are "definitely neck and neck," for 1st place in the division.The
Wild's second game was against the Victoria Ice Hawks on Saturday, Feb. 6, at the Don Cruickshank Memorial
Arena in Port Hardy, and it turned out to be a real nail biter. The Ice Hawks got on the scoreboard first at 7:32
of the 1st period, and it remained that way until 16:39 of the 3rd period, when Sharpe scored in front of the net
to tie the game up 1-1. The Ice Hawks answered back a couple minutes later to take the lead 2-1, but the Wild
refused to break. Crystal Tapp made a nice pass to Henderson, who deked around two players and buried the
puck past the Ice Hawk's goalie Tracy Qian. The game, now tied 2-2, was up for grabs to whoever wanted it the
most. With 10:27 left, Sharpe got the pass from Ranger and netted the go ahead goal. The hometown crowd
cheered loudly as Sharpe celebrated with her teammates. The Ice Hawks battled for the tying goal the rest of
the 3rd period, but the Wild's goalie Avary Miller stood her ground, making the big saves to keep her team in
the lead. The time clock ran out and the Wild pulled off the comeback win 3-2.The Wild's third game was a
rematch against the Ice Hawks on Sunday, Feb. 7, at the Don Cruickshank Memorial Arena in Port Hardy. This
time the Wild got out to an early lead, with Henderson scoring two goals in the 1st period, one from behind the
net at 12:42, and the other a hard wrist shot at 10:32. The Ice Hawks scored at 5:50 to end the 1st period down
2-1.The Wild started the 2nd period out with a goal in front of the net by Mercedes Trevor at 8:36, and then
Sharpe banged in a big rebound goal at 3:33 to make it 4-1 as the 2nd period ended.Henderson then scored
her second hat trick in three games with a rebound goal at 12:01 in the 3rd period to put the Wild up 5-1. The
Ice Hawks battled back, scoring two straight goals to make it 5-3, but the Wild's Trevor scored her second goal
of the game with 8:33 left to put them back up 6-3. The Ice Hawks added two more goals to come within one of
tying it up, but weren't able to get the puck past Miller before time ran out. The Wild held on to win 6-5, bringing
home their third win in three games. After the Wild's second win over the Ice Hawks, Laming mentioned that it
was "a great weekend of hockey all around. Everyone is a team player. Everyone has been working their butts
off, whether it be on dry land, practice, or during games. One of the mottos I have is the harder you play, the
more fun you have. And they have bought in to that and realized how true that is."