Prince Rupert brings home bronze medal from Quesnel

The Prince Rupert Seawolves Peewee team had a successful trip down to Quesnel over the weekend, bringing back a bronze medal in the Quesnel Peewee Rep tournament.

The All-West Glass Seawolves began play in the group stage against Prince George, Fort St. John, Williams Lake and hosts Quesnel. Their 2-2 record over four matches left them just out of the championship match, but still landed them an intriguing third place showdown against Williams Lake.

The Seawolves jumped out to an early 2-0 lead courtesy of goals from Riley Mellis and Alex Bowler. The Willams Lake side wouldn’t go away however, battling back to tie the game early in the third period. Prince Rupert’s Cooper Magnusson restored the lead for the Seawolves with six minutes to go, but a late power play goal from Williams Lake meant the game was off to overtime.

It took just two minutes for the game to be decided in the extra frame, as Magnus Veldman and Ryder Rochon helped set up Mellis to crank home the game winning goal from the slot.

“Just extremely proud of our players and how well they represented our city,” Seawolves coach Mark Verde said. “We have a goal this year of getting better with every weekend we play, and we reached another level again with our games this weekend.”

Mellis and Rochon were the top scorers in the tournament with eight points each. Prince Rupert was also the beneficiary of strong play in net from goalie Thor Pederson.

“Our tournament MVP was definitely our goalie, but this was a team effort from top to bottom,” coach Dave Magnusson said. “Great penalty killing, smart puck management, and a commitment to defense from every player.”

The Peewee team’s next home games will be Feb. 7 and 8 when they host a pair of matches against Vanderhoof. There is also a Peewee House Tournament taking place at the Civic Centre from Jan. 17-19.

Alex Kurial | Sports Reporter

Alex Kurial