by Rick Kupchuk
Black Press
The Fraser Valley (Zone 3) female hockey team capped an unbeaten run through the competition to win the gold medal at the BC Winter Games Sunday morning in Mission.
The Zone 3 team hung on for a 3-2 victory over the Fraser River Delta (Zone 4) team in a game that was in doubt until the final buzzer.
Aldergrove’s Alicia Perez put Fraser Valley ahead less than three minutes into the game. Before the first period was over, Priya Sidhu of Surrey and Alexis Kahlert of Maple Ridge upped the difference to 3-0.
Fraser River Delta replied with tallies from Hailee Piendl of New Westminster in the second period and Brunaby’s Megan Lai with six minutes remaining. Fraser River Delta then spent the final minute in the Fraser Valley zone, but were unable to force overtime.
“Coming into the tournament, on paper I think we were the favourites to win,” said Fraser Valley head coach Al Wozney. “So a lot of that pressure was on us. The girls really came together in the second game against Vancouver Island. And that shootout win propelled us through the next two games.”
