The Kelowna Peewee Tier 1 Rockets got a good indication recently of what it will take to earn a berth at the BC Hockey provincial championship tournament in March.
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A competitive Kelowna Minor Hockey Association tournament saw the host Rockets split their four games, just missing out on the opportunity to play for gold on home ice.
The Rockets opened up round-robin play with an impressive 5-2 win over Calgary; fell 6-4 to Juan De Fuca in their second game; and earned a berth in Sunday’s semifinal with a 7-1 win over Maple Ridge. A 6-4 defeat at the hands of Nanaimo in the semi eliminated the Kelowna reps from further play.
“It was a great tournament and very competitive,” said Kelowna’s head coach, Diano Zol. “As the close scores in most games would indicate, anybody had a chance to win. “I thought our team played extremely well — the boys showed they’re improving each week and starting to play like a team and with some consistency.”
Zol was especially pleased with the Rockets’ defensive zone play that allowed them to break out easier and spend less time in their own zone.
A two-goal performance by Andy Carbonneau set the pace for the Rockets in their opener against Calgary. Ryder Ritchie, Maddox McCagherty and Turner Chase added a goal apiece in a game that saw the Rockets take a 2-0 lead in the first period and go ahead by four goals after 40 minutes.
The Rockets gave up a pair of goals in the final eight minutes in the loss to Juan De Fuca, who led 3-1 going into the third period.
Four players — McCagherty, Chase, Simon Wilson and Spencer Fleck — shared the Kelowna scoring while Luke Schraeder helped set up a pair of goals.
Ritchie’s two goals and three assists led the way for the Rockets in the runaway win over Maple Ridge. Carbonneau added a pair of goals while singles came from McCagherty, Emmett Nordin and Ewan Minisofer. Tyler Vos assisted on two Kelowna markers.
The Rockets fell behind 2-0 in the first period and were down by four goals late in the second on the way to the semifinal loss to Nanaimo in which coach Zol thought the Rockets had a slight advantage overall, only to see their opponents cash in on the few Kelowna mistakes.
McCagherty scored twice in a losing cause while Carbonneau and Chase contributed a goal apiece.
Nanaimo went on to lose 5-4 in a shootout to Prince George in the final.
Sharing the Rockets' goaltending duties on the weekend were Angelo Zol and Colton Jugnauth while rounding out the Kelowna lineup, also coached by Cameron Weir and Gerrit Vos, were Jesse Ivanovic, Kaiden Schaupmeyer, Brayden Skogstad, Jace Deadmarsh and Ethan King.
The Rockets will continue league play and are scheduled to compete in tournaments in Abbotsford, Vancouver and Regina before beginning the Okanagan Mainline Amateur Hockey Association playoffs and their bid for berth at provincials.
To get to the provincial tournament in Prince George at Spring Break, the Rockets will have to get by Kamloops in league play for the right to represent OMAHA.
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