The Williams Lake Timberwolves Bantam Tier II team have started their season on a high note.
The rep team went undefeated in five games to capture gold at a tournament in Quesnel Oct. 20, 21 and 22.
The tournament started with a very spirited affair versus Kamloops Friday afternoon in which the teams combined for 66 minutes in penalties and a final score of 5 – 3 with two goals from Max Sanford and Sam Chabot and a single from Dylan Telford. Unfortunately for one young player, Derek Rispin, who went down early in the first period with a broken collar bone, the rest of the tournament was watched from the stands, with AP Cortland Forester coming up to help the team out.
The second game, with Logan Rhodes in net, was against Terrace and with the penalties down and goals up the boys put in a 7-5 showing, with two goals from Jake Buxton, and singles from five other players. Including the assists, 11 players made the score sheet.
The third round robin game was a lopsided match-up against Fort St. John with the Timberwolves, back stopped by Kai Flett and great defence work including Davis Franklin and Ryan Bauer. The team was able to hold Fort St John to only one goal in a 7-1 win in which Kyle Wiggins, Lochen Virk, Finley Enns and Owen Kritz added their name to the weekend’s goals along with, Sanford, Chabot, Buxton and Telford.
The semi final game was against Terrace and with the lowest combined penalties for the weekend the Bantam boys, lead by Brad Thomas, Troy Weil and Steve Pigeon, moved themselves into a gold medal spot with a 6 – 2 win. With Jaxen Carson getting an assist from the back end, Evan Pigeon getting on the scoresheet along with some of the usual suspects the team was ready to take on P.G. in the final.
Wearing the Captain “C” Davis Franklin lead the team out onto the ice to take on Prince George Sunday. Being another team in the league and having lost to them in the ice breaker late in September, having P.G. score three and a half minutes into the first had the boys battling back from adversity, which they did by scoring the next three straight and never giving up the lead again.
With a hat trick from Telford, two more from Sanford, and singles from Buxton and Chabot as well as assists from Nick Wright, Kritz and Enns a great weekend of hockey was sealed with a five and zero record and the first gold medal of the season.
