The SOMHA Junior Coyotes’ Peewee Rep team finished fourth in the recent provincial championships in Terrace. The SOMHA Bantam Thunder also finished fourth, while the Midget Rep squad finished sixth. It was the first time in league history that three SOMHA teams qualified for respective provincial championships during the same season. (Photo supplied)
The South Okanagan Minor Hockey Association (SOMHA) was well represented this year at BC Hockey provincial championships – with Peewee, Bantam and Midget rep teams competing in the Tier 3 playdowns at various locations across the province.
When competition came to a close last Wednesday, SOMHA teams finished with a pair of fourth place finishes, while another placed sixth.
At the Peewee championships in Terrace/Kitimat, the SOMHA Junior Coyotes finished the round robin with two wins and two ties.
In the playoff round, the Junior Coyotes dropped a 9-7 semifinal game to Tri Port, then lost the third place game 6-1 to Arbutus Club.
At the Bantam championships in Port Hardy, South Okanagan Thunder went unbeaten in pool play with two wins and a tie.
In the playoff round, South Okanagan fell 4-3 to Dawson Creek in the semifinal game, then dropped a 4-0 game to Terrace in the third-place contest.
“The kids worked hard and gave it their all. We were real happy with their effort. They played their hearts out in the semifinal. The ref put us down five-on-three with two minutes left in a tie game, and they scored with a minute left to win,” said head coach Brock Anderson, pleased with what took place for the Bantam rep team this year despite that heartbreaking defeat at provincials. “As coaches we were pretty happy. We were all first year coaches coming into the season and we didn’t know the kids, so we probably came in with lower expectations.
“Once we picked the team, we felt it was a strong team, which showed through the season. And the kids were lots of fun to be with.”
At the Midget championships in Dawson Creek, South Okanagan recorded a win and two losses in pool play, and did not qualify for the semifinals.
The South Okanagan team finished sixth overall.
“This tournament proved to be very tough and required a team to be at their peak in order to be successful,” said head coach Ryan Miller. “We were very close to this peak, but ran into some very stiff competition who were also peaking.
“After playing Cranbrook, we came up disappointingly short and lost 2-1. We then came back and dominated a very fast and tough Sooke team. The puck finally bounced our way as well and we won handily 6-0. We then ran into the eventually Provincial champions who had a large, strong team. This was a must win situation and they were relentless. We ended up losing the game 5-0 after giving up two late third period goals in an otherwise close game.
“I would like to thank our communities for the amazing support, especially financially, my coaching staff for all their time and support, Angela Paolera for her excellent managing skills, Dennis Thibert for athletic training, all the parents and families for their time and effort, and finally the players for an amazing season and commitment.”
This is the first time in league history that three teams from the SOMHA had qualified to compete in provicncial championships, so congratulations are most certainly in order to all of the players, coaches and staff who worked hard on the ice, and off, to make it an incredible season to remember and cherish for the SOMHA.
DALE CORY
Special to the Times
