The Kelowna Rockets went undefeated in five games on the way to a gold medal at their own midget tier 1 female hockey tournament on the weekend.
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A 1-0 shootout victory over Williams Lake in the championship game on Sunday capped a near-perfect performance by the team made up of players from Kelowna and Penticton registered with the Kelowna Minor Hockey Association. They finished with four wins and a tie overall in the 10-team event at the Rutland Arena.
Lauren Hunt stopped all 34 shots she faced in regulation time in the final to earn the most valuable player of the game honours. She also turned away three of four Williams Lake shots in the shootout.
Faith Stark, Julia DeVito and Kaitlyn Kruger scored for the Rockets, who were held to just 16 shots in the game. Captain Sage Togyi was cited for her outstanding play defensively.
The Rockets earned a berth in the tournament’s title match by edging South Island 3-2 in semifinal play earlier on Sunday, led by DeVito’s two goals and one assist and plus-three rating. Katryna Sayers was the winning goaltender, stopping 16 of 17 shots.
A 7-0 win over Seattle in their opening game gave the KMHA reps the momentum they were looking for. DeVito’s two goals and one assist and plus-four effort spearheaded the Kelowna offence that included a goal and two assists from Ashley Mann (plus five). Hunt earned the win in goal, handling all 19 shots she faced.
Kelowna followed up the initial win by playing Abbotsford to a 1-1 draw, with Cedar Carter scoring the lone Rockets goal and Sayers earning the draw between the pipes.
In their final round-robin game, the hosts doubled Fort St. John 8-4 with the help of two-goal efforts by Lindsay Fotheringham, Katie Roos and Stark. Mann added three assists while Hunt was the winning netminder, making 23 saves in the process.
Rockets’ head coach, Kevin Hunt, said a commitment to strong defensive zone play and a desire to win battles along the boards were among the keys to success for the team. He also pointed to “excellent goaltending and improved neutral-zone speed” as contributing factors to the tournament win.
The Kelowna/Penticton team has eight games remaining in Okanagan Mainline Amateur Hockey Association play and will need to defeat favoured Kamloops in the OMAHA playoffs to advance to the BC Hockey midget tier 1 female provincial tournament in Williams Lake in March.
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