The Mission Stars midget rep hockey team used home ice to an extreme advantage at the Tier 3 Final Four provincials this past weekend.
Mission won all three games over the four days in the friendly confines of the Mission Leisure Centre, en route to capturing the Tier 3 title. The tournament win now sends Mission to the provincials in Terrace from March 18 to 23.
The Stars opened the tournament on Friday with a 6-4 win over Squamish. Starting goalie Isaac Elias made 41 saves in the win. Goal scorers were: Hayden Vetterl (two), Luke Fedora (two), Cobe Dean and Owen Gossling.
Mission returned to the ice on Saturday, and blanked Semiahmoo 3-0. Elias stopped all 21 shots he faced for the shutout, with Jordan Shaw, Kevin Sidhu and Cobe Dean potting goals.
The tournament finale occurred on Monday, with the Stars clinching the banner with a 3-2 win over the Sunshine Coast. Jordan Shaw, Enrico VanTunen and Kevin Sidhu scored for Mission, while Elias made 26 saves for the win.
The Stars will now compete against nine other teams in Terrace for the provincial title. Full details from that event have not yet been finalized.
The midget rep team wasn’t the only Mission team to reach the provincials this weekend, as both the pee wee and bantam squads punched their tickets to their respective provincial finals.
The Mission Stars A1 pee wee team earned a banner for being the top team in Flight 4 during the regular season, and continued their strong play in the final four.
The pee wees defeated the Burnaby Winter Club 8-6 on Friday, and then beat Semiahmoo 4-3 on Saturday. Mission then clinched the title with a 5-2 win over Langley on Sunday. They now head to their provincials in Dawson Creek from March 18 to 23.
The bantams followed suit, opening their final four with a 7-0 win over Ridge Meadows on Friday, and then a 7-2 win over Langley on Monday. That win qualified the team to head to the provincials in Cranbrook later this month.
The team then played the North Shore Winter Club for the bantam Tier 3 banner, but lost 5-3.
