It was a battle between the top two goaltenders in the Vancouver Island Amateur Hockey Association’s female midget division on Saturday, and it was the Tri-Port Wild’s Avary Miller who ended up coming out on top.
The Wild had a date with league rivals the Campbell River Hurricanes at the Don Cruickshank Memorial Arena in Port Hardy at 11:00 a.m., and it was a make-or-break game for the hometown girls. If they won they would improve their league play record to a stellar 4-1-1, but if they lost they would have fallen to 3-2-1 on the season.
The game turned out to be a real nail biter from the first drop of the puck, with neither team being able to score for the first two periods.
The Wild hammered the Hurricanes’ star goaltender Ashley Hogg with a barrage of shots, but weren’t able to knock the puck past her until finally, four minutes into the third period, Jessica Wadhams picked up the puck, skated around the net and fired a sneaky shot that trickled through Hogg’s pads, giving the Wild a lead for the first time in the game.
The Hurricanes would attempt to tie it up with some hard shots on the Wild’s net, but Miller stood her ground and flashed the glove to keep the lead intact.
Wadhams would then convert at 11:17 with an insurance goal, assisted by defencewoman Madison Van Will, to give the Wild a solid 2-0 lead, which is how the game came to an end.
The Tri-Port Wild will be back in action at the Don Cruickshank Memorial Arena in Port Hardy on Feb. 9 against the Juan De Fuca Grizzlies at 2:30 p.m.
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