The Kelowna Kodiaks returned home last week with some provincial hardware in their possession.
The Kodiaks capped off a stellar 2014 season with a silver-medal performance at the B.C. midget A2 lacrosse championship in Campbell River.
In their opener Friday, the Kodiaks fell behind 5-1 before rallying for a 7-5 win over Semiamhoo.
Later in the day, Kelowna moved to 2-0 with an 8-6 victory over South Island/Peninsula.
In Game 3, the Kodiaks suffered their first loss of the tourney, 5-4 to Richmond.
With Kelowna placing second in its pool, and Richmond taking first in the other pool, the teams met again in the crossover semifinal. Playing one of their best games of the weekend, Kodiaks prevailed 7-5. The game, however, was not without controversy as the Richmond coach tried to have the result overturned due to a technical issue with the Kelowna goalkeeper’s pants not having a proper tag. After some tense moments for Kelowna players and coaches, the protest was turned down and Kelowna was off to the finals.
In the gold medal final vs Semiamhoo, the Kodiaks had trouble solving the opposing goaltender and fell behind early. Down 6-1 after two periods, Kelowna gave it everything they had but came up short losing 9-2.
“If we played them tomorrow the outcome would be different,” said Kodiaks coach Graham Hartl. “
The Kodiaks ended a successful season with an 18-7 record, and a provincial silver medal, the first by Kelowna midget team in many years.
