Penticton’s peewee, bantam and midget female teams couldn’t defend their home ice as hosts of the Fire on Ice hockey tournament.
Penticton Peaches Lingerie finished third after winning three of four games.
After a slow start against Kelowna, which they lost 2-0, Peaches Lingerie coach Dave Sandrelli said his team finished strong. They defeated Chase 5-3 on goals by Sydney Garnett, Lena Madevon, Katherine Huston and Emily Trupp.
Their next victory came against North Shore, 3-1. Trupp, Sydney Sandrelli and Maggie Robinson scored. In their final game, Peaches Lingerie handed Chase a 5-0 defeat. Garnett scored four goals, while Sandrelli added the other.
Sandrelli said the tournament was a success and provided good competition.
Penticton’s bantam team finished fourth, while the peewees were also fourth. The peewees lost with 14 seconds remaining to the Kelowna Oilers.
“Players were pretty disappointed with the game four loss,” said peewee coach Bill Lund.
“We had a 1-0 lead going into the third and just lost our focus for a couple of minutes and that’s all it takes. We had owned third periods all season long so it was a bit of a shocker.”
Heading into it, Lund said he had high expectations for his team. He wanted to see his players make the finals but still considered their weekend a success because of one thing.
“Bottom line is the kids had fun,” he said. “The quality of the teams in the tournament was excellent. Other than the Williams Lake team that was extremely strong, every game could have went either way.
“That’s what you want in a tournament, going into it knowing that every team has a chance to win it.”
Shawn Carter, coach of the bantam Vees, said while his team didn’t win any games, his young group performed extremely well.
“They competed hard,” said Carter, of his first-year team. “We had close games with Vernon, losing 5-2, who has dominated us in past games.”
It was positive for Carter to watch his players compete and see their confidence grow. That’s what he wanted heading into the tournament.
John Cote, female director for Penticton Minor Hockey Association, said the 16-team event, played in all four Penticton arenas, produced good hockey. Chilliwack secured the midget championship against Kelowna 2-0 with an empty net goal, while Kelowna’s midget team defeated Vernon 7-5 to win the bantam championship.
Kelowna was entered to help fill that division. Williams Lake, said Cote, was a “pretty dominant” team. They defeated the Kelowna Avalanche 6-0 to capture the peewee championship.
“The competitiveness of all three finals was pretty good,” he said.
“That the tournament was well run. It’s a testament to the volunteers we have,” said Cote. “Without them, the tournament just doesn’t happen. It doesn’t run as smoothly.”
In other Penticton minor hockey, the Lions Vee-Lociraptors clawed their way to win the Kamloops bantam tournament. They did so by going 5-0. Their effort included two shutouts to get to the championship game. The Vee-Lociraptors benefited from strong defence and goaltending.
