Nelson Minor Hockey claims Silver Medals at BC Championships
By The Nelson Daily Sports
Nelson Minor Hockey teams came ever so close to capturing BC Hockey Championships.
Both Nelson teams — U13s and U15s — lost in the final of their respective tournaments Wednesday in Revelstoke and Quesnel to claim silver medals.
The Nelson U13s lost 8-3 to Kitimat in the final of the BC Hockey Tier 4 Championships at the Revelstoke Forum.
Meanwhile, the Nelson U15s were doubled 6-3 by New Westminster at the BC Hockey Tier 3 Championships at the West Fraser Center in the Central Interior City.
Both Nelson teams entered Wednesday’s finals with undefeated records — the U13s 3-0 after edging Elk Valley Raiders 7-6 in semi final action and the U15s 4-0 following a 7-5 semi-final victory over Powell River.
Kitimat scores early, and often
Kitimat took control of the U13 Final from the opening whistle against Nelson, scoring three times in the first 16 minutes of the game.
Makai Easton cut the margin to 3-1 but Tristan Levesque-Mera restored the three-goal advantage with a goal in the final 30 seconds of the first period.
Easton, with his second of the game midway through the second frame made the score 4-2, but Kitimat’s Dexter Gross scored later in the period to give the victors a 5-2 lead after 40 minutes.
Ericson Smith scored a power play goal for Nelson in the third period to give the Heritage City squad some life.
However, Kitimat poured on the offence, scoring three times in the final seven minutes to complete the victory.
Against Elk Valley, Smith scored three times to lead Nelson as the East Kootenay squad rallied from a 7-3 margin to score three times in the final three minutes to make the score close.
Also scoring for Nelson were Easton, Samuel Rice, Tyson Bayoff and Casey Ogle.
New West power play sinks Nelson U15s
New Westminster rallied from a one-goal deficit in the third period, scoring three times with the man advantage in the final six minutes of the game, to double Nelson 6-3.
New Westminster entered the period holding a slim 2-1 lead after scoring twice in the first period.
Brady Quiding kept Nelson close with a first period marker.
Trailing 2-1 after 40 minutes, Nelson took a 3-2 lead on goals by Hudson Vanlerberg and Eddie Carew four minutes into the period.
However, Nelson ran into penalty troubles in the final six minutes of the game which allowed New Westminster to score three goals in the span of just under 90 seconds.
New Westminster added an insurance goal two minutes later to secure the victory and the BC Hockey Tier 3 U15 Championship.
Tanner Ross was in goal for Nelson while MacLean Milne was in goal to backstop the New Westminster win.
Mission hangs on to claim Tier 3 U18 Championship
Mission Minor Hockey scored three times in the second period en route to a 5-3 win over Terrace in the final of the BC Hockey Tier 3 U18 Championships Wednesday at the NDCC Arena.
Leading 1-0 after the opening period, Mission scored three consecutive goals to lead 4-0 12 minutes into the middle frame.
Terrace scored once in the second, and twice in the third period — goals by Jacob Suderman — to cut the lead to 4-3.
However, Darian McKamey scored his second of the game to stop any comeback by the Central Interior squad.
Mission, entering the final with an undefeated record, stopped Aldergrove 9-0 in one semi final earlier Wednesday.
Terrace outlasted South Okanagan 6-2 in the other semi final.
South Okanagan edged Aldergrove 4-3 to win the Bronze Medal.
Host Castlegar, consisting of players from both Castlegar and Nelson Minor Hockey, finished the tournament out of the playoffs with a 0-2-1 record.
Mission captured the BC Hockey Tier 3 U18 Championship Wednesday at the NDCC Arena in Nelson. — Screenshot photo
