The Grand Forks Tier 4 peewee rep team placed third in a tournament in Osoyoos/Oliver last weekend against stiff competition.
The team travelled to South Okanagan to face off against 11 other teams: eight Tier-3 teams, two Tier-4 and one Tier-2 team.
The Grand Forks peewee rep Bruins defeated Coquitlam 5-1, followed by North Shore Winter Club 8-3 to win its pool. They lost 3-2 to Holleyburn (the only Tier-2 team at tournament) in semifinals.
“You get better by playing better teams and I think we improved over the weekend,” said head coach Darryl Turner. “The players are starting to see how hard work can pay off.”
In the game against Holleyburn, the peewee rep Bruins fell behind 2-0 early in the game and were badly outplayed in the first half. As the game went on, the Bruins got stronger and came back to tie the score. Holleyburn eventually scored with five minutes left in the game to win and advance to the finals.
In the semifinals, the Bruins defeated Coquitlam 4-1 to finish third out of 11 teams, and have improved their overall record to six wins and eight losses so far this year.
“It’s difficult to find Tier-4 competition close by so we end up playing up into a Tier-3 league and attending many Tier-3 tournaments,” explained Turner. “This can often get frustrating as success is not always understood by players, they just see a loss as a loss. It certainly was fun to travel to a tournament and compete well against a high calibre of talent and experience success.”
The Bruins will be hosting the provincial playdowns from March 17 to 22.
