Wildcats hold their own at Kamloops Female Tourney
By The Nelson Daily Sports
The West Kootenay Wildcats ran into some stiff competition during a Female Minor Hockey Bantam Tournament this past weekend in Kamloops.
The Cats dropped games to Abbotsford Ice, 3-1, and Tri-Cities, 6-1, before dumping South Island Royals 5-1.
The final game between the Wildcats and North Shore Avalanche ended in a 1-1 tie.
Tri-Cities, a collection of players from three Lower Mainland cities, took the play to West Kootenay from the opening face-off, building a 5-0 first period lead.
Trail’s Julie Sidoni scored the lone goal for the Wildcats.
Against Abbotsford, Chanel Tvergyak scored three times — two in the opening period — to pace the Ice.
The Wildcats scored its lone goal in the second period.
The Cats rebounded to pull off a win against South Island, scoring three times in the first period to take control of the game.
Stephanie McAuley of Trail led the charge with a pair of goals with singles going to Jenna Wheeldon, Jesse Cooper and Emma Hare, all of Nelson.
West Kootenay completed the tournament with tie against North Shore.
The Wildcats battled back from a 1-0 first-period deficit on a goal by Merrissa Dawson. Catalina Hartland of Kaslo was in goal for the Wildcats.
The tourney in Kamloops comes on the heels of a similar event in Trail.
West Kootenay finished with a 1-3 record. Its lone win came against Nelson. Goals by Sidoni, McAuley, Paige Gattafoni of Trail and Hare paced West Kootenay to the win.
The Wildcats lost twice to Castlegar teams and once to Kelowna.
West Kootenay returns to the ice Saturday with a game against Nelson Bantam House at 10:15 a.m. in the Civic Arena.
Sunday, the team is in Castlegar to meet a Bantam House team at 2:30 p.m. in the Castlegar and District Community Complex Arena.
sports@thenelsondaily.com
