The SOMHA Junior Coyotes Peewee hockey club are league champions and heading to the provincial Tier III championships in Dawson Creek from March 19-24. (Contributed photo)
The South Okanagan Minor Hockey Association (SOMHA) Junior Coyotes Peewee hockey team is playing for a bronze medal Thursday morning at the B.C. Tier III Provincial Peewee Hockey Championships in Dawson Creek.
The Junior Coyotes will be battling Mission in the bronze medal game.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Junior Coyotes were soundly defeated by the host Dawson Creek team 15-1.
Team manager Deb Sidwell said the Dawson Creek team has been playing against Tier I competition all season and were obviously too strong for any team in the tournament.
“They beat every team they played handily,” she said. “They beat another team 14-0 and another team 11-0.
“I talked to their coach and they really wanted to move up to play at the Tier II or Tier I provincials, but they were selected as hosts a long time ago and had no choice.”
Despite the lopsided score, the players on the Junior Coyotes handled the defeat with dignity and class, she said.
“By the end of the game they were dancing around and joking and having a good time,” she said. “They never resorted to dirty hockey or getting chippy and played with dignity and class and we’re very proud of them for that.”
Returning home with a bronze medal would be a magnificent achievement, she said.
“They really want that bronze medal hanging around their necks,” she said.
The Junior Coyotes lost their opener on Sunday morning after a long two-day trip to Dawson Creek and came up on the short end of a 5-2 score against Langley.
Head coach John Seminoff and his players rebounded with a crucial 6-3 victory against Cranbrook.
They qualified for the semi-finals thanks to a hard-fought 3-3 draw against Terrace in their third and final round-robin game.
Dawson Creek is playing Langley in the championship game Thursday afternoon.
Sidwell said players on the Junior Coyotes “have played their hearts out” and have represented themselves wonderfully since arriving in Dawson Creek Saturday evening.
Meanwhile, the SOMHA Midget Rep team returned home Wednesday after failing to register a win – they had a tie and three close losses – at the Provincial Tier III Midget Hockey Championships in Terrace.
Midget Rep team coach Steve Harrison and his player got off a to a decent start in the tournament by scoring a late goal in their opening game on Sunday against Whitehorse and skating away with a 6-6 tie.
In their second game against Mission, they trailed 4-3 midway through the third period, but ran into penalty problems and ended up losing 7-3.
In their third game against Terrace, the Midget Rep team twice game back from one-goal deficits and tied the game 3-3 with less than two minutes to play.
But the referee called a questionable tripping penalty with less than a minute to play and Terrace scored the winner with only seconds to play in a tough 4-3 loss, said Harrison.
With no chance of advancing to the semi-finals, the Midget Rep team lost 6-4 to Cranbrook in another tight game.
“We had a tie and lost three very close games that could have gone either way,” said Harrison. “This is the provincials and you know the teams are going to be strong and I would say almost every team we played had more depth and talent, but we fought hard and could have won all four games, so I’m pretty proud of the boys.”
The officiating throughout the tournament left a lot to be desired, he said.
“It was very frustrating to deal with,” he said. “They were extremely inconsistent and would let things like head shots go, but would call a cheap tripping penalty late in the game.
“I talked to a lot of the coaches and they felt the same way. The refs wouldn’t let the kids play and wanted to control the games and it ended up being a little bit of a farce.”
Harrison said having his best player, Cole Rezka from Osoyoos, on the sidelines due to injury, made it tough.
“Cole is probably our best player and I really think we would have won two or three of those close games if he was able to play,” he said. “But the boys played hard and that’s all I can ask.
“We had a great season and I’m very proud of all of them.”
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
The SOMHA Midget Rep team are league champions and will be leaving next week to compete in the provincial Tier III championships in Terrace. (Contributed photo)
