Another weekend. Another tournament title. So it goes for the Lumby Atom Stars, sponsored by Kineshanko Logging and Armstrong Co-op.
The Stars rallied to shade the Winfield Bruins 8-7 Sunday in the thrilling A final of the Penticton Atomic Meltdown Tournament. It was the Stars’ third tournament win of the season.
The Stars, who are right behind the undefeated Bruins in the North Okanagan Super League, fell behind 4-0 after one period.
Determined not to give up, the Stars outscored the Bruins 3-1 in the second to make things interesting for the third, where the Stars’ gritty play and hard work shone though as they produced five goals.
Conner Seehaver and Drew Mackenzie each scored twice, while Quin Williamson and Nic Teale added singles to round out the offence on assists by Noah Clarke, Tage Kineshanko, Ryan Desilets and Teale. Wyatt Whitcomb, Emily Romailler, Ethan Beliveau and Liam McLeod all played great defence. Matthew Yaremcio made numerous amazing saves.
The Stars opened the tourney by battling the Kelowna Spitfires to a 5-5 draw.
Teale, Desilets, Mackenzie, Williamson and Jordan Romailler scored for Lumby.
The Stars then skated to an 8-6 win over host Penticton #2 with Seehaver pulling the hat trick and Williamson adding two goals. Singles went to Teale, Drew Mackenzie and Jordan Romailler.
In their last round-robin game, Lumby rode the star goaltending of Michael Preston to an 8-3 win over the Chilliwack Bombers.
Kineshanko, Clarke and Desilets each contributed two goals apiece with Williamson collecting 1+2.
The Stars went into the Sunday playoffs in second place and bounced the Kelowna Bulls 6-3 in an early morning game.
Desilets provided 2+1, while Williamson, Seehaver, Preston and Mackenzie added singles.Kineshanko was in net and made several key saves.
In Atom Super League action, the K2 Stone Crushers erased a 3-1 deficit and recorded a 6-6 tie Saturday with North Okanagan #1.
Caleb James put the Crushers on the board with his first goal of the season on a stellar coast-to-coast rush, burying a shot to the corner with a d-man draped all over him. James’ goal sparked the Crushers as they stormed back to take a 4-3 lead after two periods on goals by Lucas Wood, Cole Johnson and Zack Laranjo.
The Stone squad relinquished the lead in the third and had to rely on a couple of back-to-back rushes for goals from d-man Nicholas Maglio. Jaden Stone had a solid game on defence and Chayse Turnbull stood tall in net.
The Crushers then played early Sunday morning at the Shaw Centre and registered a gutsy 4-1 win over host Salmon Arm #1.
Vernon opened the scoring on a nifty pass from Laranjo to Johnson for his first of two on the day. They took a 2-0 lead into the third with Maglio banging one from in front of the net.
In the third, the K2 Stone crew opened up their lead with Johnson’s second of the game on another feed from Laranjo, who in turn completed the scoring on the powerplay following a hard shot off the post from the point by Wood.
Elyse Dyck almost potted her first of the year with a strong effort in front of the net. The ever-improving Dawson Martian was solid all weekend and Benjamin Reinhardt proved his abilities once again alternating between forward and defence.
The Crushers showed consistent team play with Alyssa Reilly, Shaelyn Cecchinni and Brandon Dyck having strong games at both ends of the ice. The defensive tandem of Trevor Moore and Will Higgins-Wilson stymied several Salmon Arm rushes. Chayse Turnbull came within 7:24 of earning his first shutout of the season.
“We’ve learned what it takes to compete and have stepped up our team game,” said Crushers’ coach Eli Johnson. “The coaching staff – Jerry Reinhardt, Darren Cecchini and myself – are very proud of the progress the team has made this year. We are looking forward to a strong finish to the season with the return of Jackson Sampert from injury, and continued improvement in our passing and team play.”
The Vernon M&K Ready Mix Red Lazers went 2-2 in the Osoyoos Atom Tournament.
The Lazers opened by doubling the Westside Killer Bees 10-5 with Liam Reid recording 3+1 for game MVP. Jacob Sherriff-Brewer and Aiden Trottier each counted 2+1, Jadon Foster also scored twice and Sapien Joe fired one goal.
The Red Lazers then slammed the Summerland Jets 7-3, led by MVP Brayden Szeman’s hat trick. Isaac White, on a great rush, Brayden McManaman, Foster, Trottier and Reid supplied singles.
In Game 3, the Lazers fell 3-1 to the Langley Vipers with Trottier scoring and Foster getting MVP for incredible goaltending. Samuel White, Erik Urquhart, Zachary Manthorne and Jacob Wettlaufer enjoyed their best games of the season.
In crossover action, the Lazers fell 5-1 to Salmon Arm with Szeman scoring from Trottier. Foster earned the game MVP with Brady Lawrence skating his best game of the year.
