The West Kootenay U18 Wildcats are provincial champions!
The Wildcats captured the B.C. U18A Female Hockey Championship in Williams Lake with a 5-2 victory over the Victoria Reign in Sunday’s (March 26) final.
The Wildcats went 2-1-1 in the preliminary round, beating North East Predators 5-1 in their opening match Thursday.
The Wildcats lost to Victoria 6-3 in the round robin Friday, and tied Surrey in a high-scoring 6-6 match on Saturday.
West Kootenay faced a must-win match up against host Williams Lake in their final round robin game to proceed to the playoff Saturday afternoon. The Wildcats jumped out to a 3-0 lead, then held on for a 3-2 victory to advance to the semifinal.
In Sunday morning’s semifinal Trail faced off against the Vancouver IHA in a physical back and forth match up.
West Kootenay took a 1-0 lead 8:54 into the first period on a goal from Siarrah Corfe. Vancouver tied it five minutes later, but the Wildcats answered and went up 2-1 on a goal by Elisha Caplan 46 seconds into the second period.
However, Vancouver rallied in the third scoring with eight minutes to play to force the overtime.
Vancouver was called for a body checking infraction eight minutes into the overtime period. The Wildcats capitalized less than a minute later when Natalee Barbe scored on a Melanie Brooks set up for a thrilling 3-2 victory and a trip to the final.
In the final match up Sunday afternoon, the Wildcats came out determined and Caplan opened the scoring less than three minutes in for a 1-0 lead. Jordana Jones made it 2-0 midway through the period on a setup from Barbe.
After a scoreless second period, Isabella Conci put the Wildcats up by three and Caplan notched her second of the game for a 4-0 Wildcats lead at 16:10 of the final frame.
The ice tilted noticeably in the Reign’s favour in the third, as they rallied scoring twice on six power plays to cut the lead to 4-2.
But Conci iced it with a shorthanded marker with 1:45 to play for the 5-2 final and the championship.
Players on the team come from Greater Trail, Castlegar, Nelson, Grand Forks and Rock Creek.