The Williams Lake Midget Tier 2 Timberwolves went 3-0 in round robin play at the Williams Lake Midget Tier 2 Tournament on the weekend.
“We thought the kids played pretty well through the round robin,” said T-wolves assistant coach Gord Sterritt. “We were 3-0 and I thought we were getting stronger and stronger each game.”
The lakecity squad began with a 2-0 shutout victory over Smithers Friday evening, before going on to beat Merritt, 5-2, and Quesnel, 4-1, on Saturday.
The ‘A’ side of the draw featuring Kamloops, Prince George, Terrace and Winfield saw Kamloops advance to Sunday’s semi-final, along with Terrace.
From the ‘B’ pool it was Williams Lake and Quesnel who advanced.
“The semi-final situation was kind of our downfall,” said Williams Lake head coach Sheldon Nohr, who noted injuries began to take its toll on his players. “We played with five affiliate players so I thought the kids did great.”
Williams Lake lost a hard-fought 3-2 battle with Kamloops in the semi-final to be eliminated from the tournament.
“We had our chances,” Nohr said. “We had a breakaway and we didn’t capitalize and we had a puck sitting on the goal line.”
Kamloops went on to beat Terrace, 4-2, in the final to take the tournament title.
“Kamloops is a pretty strong team,” Sterritt said. “All the games were really close between all the teams. It was pretty evenly matched.”
Sterritt said Williams Lake goaltenders Zach Straza and Michael Byer deserve recognition, as their play was outstanding during the tournament.
“We definitely couldn’t have made it this far without them,” Sterritt said.
“I also think all the other players on our team deserve recognition. They all played hard and worked together doing what needed to be done.”
This weekend, the Williams Lake Midget Tier 2 Timberwolves take on the Prince George Midget Tier 2 Cougars for a pair of games.
The first goes Saturday, Dec. 17 at 6 p.m. On Sunday the two teams play at 10 a.m. Both games are at the Cariboo Memorial Complex.
Sterritt added a big thank you is in order to all the people who helped make this past weekend’s tournament a success.
“All the people that chipped in and helped are great,” he said. “I think it was very well attended, especially our home game on Friday night. Thanks to all the fans and supporters and just people that have had kids on the team from years prior who came and helped out.”