Bantam A girls come from behind to capture provincial hockey gold

That the Kelowna Rockets were able to overcome an early one-goal deficit to claim gold in the BC Hockey bantam A girls championship game on Thursday came as no surprise to Evan Rodger.

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“Teamwork and heart is what this group is all about,” said the head coach shortly after her Kelowna Minor Hockey Association representatives put the finishing touches on a 5-3 victory over the North Shore Avalanche in the title match at the Valleyview Arena in Kamloops. “They love each other and they’ve worked so hard for one another all year. It really was a thrill to see them come together after a relatively slow start this season and fight through adversity to finish as the best team in the province.”

The Rockets, for the most part, made it look easy during the five-day tournament, winning six games and tying one on the way to earning the BC Hockey blue banner.

Such was not the case on Thursday as they gave up a goal to North Shore just 34 seconds into the gold-medal game.

But the Rockets replied with two quick goals from captain Elizabeth Lenardon and assistant Anne Cherkowski two minutes apart near the midway point of the opening frame.

North Shore, also unbeaten in round-robin play and who played Kelowna to a 2-2 draw in the opening game of the seven-team tournament, knotted the score with 4:26 remaining in the first period.

Still, coach Rodger was confident her team would respond.

“We (she and assistants Tim Lenardon and Todd Simpson) didn’t have to say much to the girls. They knew they were a little nervous in the first period and that they had better hockey in them,” recalled Rodger. “They came out and played Rocket hockey in the second — fast, hard on the puck, putting shots on net and supporting each other.”

The Rockets took over the momentum in the middle frame and went ahead 3-2 on a second goal by first-year bantam Cherkowski, who had posted a pair of hat tricks in round-robin games. However a stubborn North Shore team wouldn’t go away and pulled into a tie again just 27 seconds later.

Still with the territorial edge, the Okanagan Mainline Amateur Hockey Association champions scored what would stand up as the winning goal on a high point shot from defender Sydney Neustaeter with just 13 seconds left in the second period.

Going into the third, the KMHA coaching staff emphasized the need to remain aggressive, but being responsible defensively, especially against the two or three standout players on the North Shore side.

“Everyone bought in and they were all aware of who was on the ice and worked hard at backchecking and going hard to the puck,” noted Rodger. “Again, it was a total team effort right to the end.”

Chanreet Bassi provided the clincher with an empty-net goal at 19:31 of the third.

Rodger, admittedly “so excited” about her team’s provincial championship, said she couldn’t be more proud of the team, made up of half first-year and half second-year players, who had been to provincials as peewee and bantam also-rans in 2015.

“It took awhile for the two groups to come together, but they never stopped working hard, not only on their skills, but also on becoming a true team. The momentum and chemistry just kept on building.”

She added that success didn’t come easy.

“The girls didn’t have a lot of competition in the Interior — our best games were against the Kelowna peewee tier 1 boys — and we didn’t see a lot of the teams from the Coast. But the team just kept on putting in the effort.

“They showed a lot of heart for each other — something you don’t always see in a team at this age. I’m just so happy for them.”