Kelowna teams rise to occasion in tournament play

Six straight wins in Richmond earned the Kelowna Kodiaks a second consecutive midget B lacrosse tournament championship on the weekend.

The Kelowna Minor Lacrosse Association representatives defeated Peninsula 11-6 in the title game to put the finishing touches on a perfect record in the 12-team event.

Four goals and an assist by Colten Wasylenko led the Kodiaks in the final match in the eighth annual event. Justin Charlton added pair of goals for the winners, who were coming off a tournament title in Penticton earlier this month.

Zander Torres and Nolan Katinic contributed a goal and two assists in the final that saw the Kodiaks jump out to a 6-2 lead in the first period. Tyler Johnston and Bradley Swecera chipped in with a goal and one helper while Taryn Munson rounded out the Kelowna scoring.

The Kodiaks earned a berth in the championship game by defeating Juan de Fuca 8-2 in semifinal play.

Torres and Wasylenko both scored twice to lead the scoring parade. Singles came from Kegan Cochrane, Blake Spragge, Swecera, and Charlton.

The Kelowna squad reached the semis by winning four straight games in round-robin play, defeating Comox Valley (12-2), Cowichan Valley (6-4), Juan de Fuca (6-4) and Saanich (11-4).

Next up for the Kodiaks is their own KMLA midget tournament at the Rutland and Memorial arenas June 9-11.

Medal performances for Kelowna United soccer teams in Kamloops

A 2-0 win in the final over Williams Lake earned the U12 Kelowna United Hot Shots the U13 division gold medal at the annual Slurpee Cup Tournament in Kamloops on the weekend.

Mykayla Zukowski, selected as the most valuable player in the match, scored both goals for the Hot Shots, who earned a spot in the title match by winning two games and tying one in round-robin play.

Zukowksi’s first goal came off a corner kick that deflected off an opponent’s leg, while her insurance marker was off a free kick outside the 18-yard box that found the far left corner of the net.

Abbey Gubbels earned the shutout in goal for the winners, with defenders Ashtyn Clark, Rylee Gordon, Sofia Bigattini and Madison Merner being lauded for their outstanding play in front of her.

The Hot Shots opened the tournament with a 1-0 win over the Harbour City U13 team, while they played Whistler Sea to Sky U13s to a 1-1 draw and edged Terrace U13s 1-0 to round out round-robin play.

In U15 action, Kelowna United went undefeated in four games, but settled for the silver medal.

Despite playing to a 2-2 draw with McKenzie of Calgary in the gold-medal game, United was awarded the silver due to Calgary having a better overall record during the weekend.

Falling behind 1-0 in the final, Kelowna evened the score 27 minutes into the match when Ashlyn Eisenkrein passed to Lindsay Goett, who broke down the field and booted a hard shot past the Calgary keeper.

Goett put United ahead three minutes later, scoring on a penalty shot after being hauled down on a breakaway.

Calgary secured the gold by tying the score with three minutes remaining. United goalkeeper, Tayshja Clark, was selected as the game’s MVP.

United opened the tournament by defeating the Edmonton Drillers 2-0 on goals by Kaley Krivoshein and Eisenkrein while Goett was the game’s most valuable player.

Game 2 saw KU play Red Deer to a 2-2 draw, coming back from a two-goal second-half deficit.

Madison Dyke got United on the board 22 minutes into the second half, beating the Red Deer goalkeeper from the left side of the field. Kelowna tied the game three minutes later on a shot by Brianna Panagos.

Eisenkrein was named the game MVP.

In their final round-robin game, United earned a berth in the final with a 4-0 victory.

Krivoshein notched the first two goals, the second assisted by Clark and Goett. United went up by three at the 29-minute mark on a goal by Sophia Millikin and rounded out the scoring on a solo effort by Eisenkrein. The game MVP award went to Sofia MacQuarrie.

Meanwhile, the Kelowna United U13 Storm won three of four games and finished in third place among eight teams in the very competitive Metro Division of the Slurpee Cup.

The Storm defeated Surrey Pegasus FC 1-0, Richmond Thunder FC 3-1 and the Kamloops Orange 1-0. Their only defeat came at the hands of the Sherwood Park Phoenix by a score of 5-1.

Contribution from the entire roster — both offensively and defensively — was the key to the KU success. Special mention went to the defensive backs Haylie Steel, Mekhila Brown, Kiera Swift, Shannon Rowe, Lilly Kolochuk and Emily Buckmaster.

Junior Heat win three of four at own hoops tournament

Despite being slow off the mark, the Kelowna Junior Heat registered three wins in four games at their own U17 girls basketball tournament on the weekend.

Trailing until midway through the fourth quarter, the Heat came back to defeat the Leduc Thunder 74-67 in their opening game.

Jaeli Ibbetson of the Kelowna Owls, chosen as the game star, led the Heat with 23 points and eight rebounds while Kelsey Falk of Vernon contributed 16 points and six boards to go along with Olivia Avaini’s nine points.

The Heat got off to a rare quick start (16-5) in their second game and went on to a 53-30 victory over the Triple Threat Orange.

A 16-point effort by Falk (game star) set the pace for the winners, with Madi Martens of Kelowna Christian School adding 10 points and six rebounds. Jordan Kemper chipped in with six points and six rebounds.

Down by 10 points or more on three occasions, the Heat couldn’t find enough to come back against VSC and dropped a 74-62 decision in their third matchup.

Falk dominated the game, scoring 28 points and pulling down 14 rebounds. Both totals surpassed Heat records held by Megan Rouault (27) and Emma Johnson/Hannah Friesen (13) respectively.

Jordyn Pink (game star) of the Okanagan Mission Huskies and Ibbetson added 10 points each.

In their final game, the Heat trailed by seven points at the half, but went on a 19-6 run in the third quarter to take control. Falk again led the way with 17 points and seven rebounds while Ibbetson finished with 12 and Kasey Patchell (KSS) with nine points, four rebounds and four assists. Game stars were Patchell and Jenna Robinson of OKM.

“This was a good start for our group,” noted coach Bobby Mitchell. “But we all understand there’s still lots of work to be done. I need to do a better job of getting the girls ready to play right hard from the start so we don’t find ourselves down early in the game.

“The team showed great fight and came through with a high compete level. We’re looking forward to a great season.”