Salmon Arm’s female bantam Silverbacks closed out 2018 with a win, defeating the Kamloops Blazers in a 6-1 game that was under Salmon Arm’s control from the start.
The Salmon Arm Elite Hockey School Female Bantam A Silverbacks faced off against the Bantam Blazers of Kamloops on Friday, Dec. 21, dominating from the drop of the puck to the final buzzer.
The Silverbacks opened the scoring just over a minute into the game, as Hailee Hunt went top corner with a shot from the bottom of the circle after a strong forecheck won her the puck. Salmon Arm went up by two a few moments later as Natasha Kociuba and Hunt went deep on a 2-on-1 and Hunt fired home her second goal of the night, burying the rebound of Kociuba’s shot.
Related: Bantam female Silverbacks open regular season with a win
Kaisy Huber slipped a backhand shot into the five-hole on a breakaway just under a minute later, and Jaylen Moraice-Budalich fired a wrist shot from the point to extend the Silverbacks to a 4-0 lead shortly after that. As time wound down in the first period, Hunt would complete the hat-trick with a wrist-shot of her own from the point, to give the ‘Backs a five-goal cushion heading into the first intermission.
Salmon Arm surrendered a marker to Kamloops part way through the second period, but that’s as close as the Blazers could get in this one. Kociuba’s blistering wrist-shot as time wound down in the third was much too much for the Blazer’s goaltender to handle, and sealed the 6-1 victory for the home team.
Salmon Arm heads to Chase for a tough pair of games against the Prince George Bantam Cougars early in the new year.
Submitted by Peter Kociuba
