Despite the Salmon Arm girls midget A Silvertips strong start to the preseason, they could not continue their run of form into the first two games of the regular season.
The Silvertips started their season 0-2, with losses to Kelowna and Kamloops over the weekend.
On Saturday in Kelowna the Silvertips’ start to the season looked promising.
Brooke Miller, from Salmon Arm, opened the scoring on the first shift of the game when she scored five-hole on a great pass from Cailee Bauml, from Vernon.
The score was 1-0 at the end of the first in favour of Salmon Arm.
The Silvertips took the lead when Hailey Haskell, from Salmon Arm, scored on a great give and go with Taylor Vandale, from Vernon, on a power play.
Haskell was denied a second goal, just minutes later when she stepped out of the penalty box and received a break away pass from Caitlyn Marshall, from Armstrong.
Haskell’s wrist shot beat the Kelowna goaltender, but not the post.
Kelowna responded soon after by scoring two quick goals midway through the second period to take the lead.
The Silvertips looked for an equalizer, and controlled the play and out-shot Kelowna the rest of the game.
Sam Maric, from Vernon, and Cassidy Marshall, from Armstrong, had several good chances, but were unable to beat the Kelowna goalie.
Kelowna added an insurance marker and an empty netter to seal the win.
The Silvertips head coach, Rob Bauml said they outplayed Kelowna and out-shot them, but the result just didn’t go their way.
On Sunday in Salmon Arm, the Silvertips were trounced 8-0, by a strong Kamloops team.
The ’Tips competed hard and played a strong defensive game in the first and were only down 1-0 mid-way through the game.
However, Salmon Arm was unable to muster any kind of offensive as they were shut down by a physical Kamloops defence.
Ava Wutke and Chloe Martin stepped up to play a strong defensive first half of the game.
However, in the second half, the Kamloops forecheck was relentless, and they broke down the Silvertips defence, scoring almost at will.
“They (Kamloops) looked very good and we need to get better to compete with them,” said Bauml.
The ’Tips head down south to Kelowna next weekend for a tournament, and will resume league games the following weekend.
