The Williams Lake Midget Female Timberwolves punched their ticket to the Provincial Hockey Championships during the weekend after beating the Prince George Female Cougars in back-to-back games to win the Cariboo Amateur Hockey Association crown.
Head coach Pete Montana said he was thrilled with the weekend, which saw the T-wolves win 7-2 on Saturday, then 5-1 on Sunday at the Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex.
“It was a really, really good weekend,” Montana said. “We’ve just been improving all season long.”
Saturday, 100 Mile House’s Caitlyn Ray notched a hat trick, while citymates Breanna Uphill, Anya Leverman and Katie Toews, plus Williams Lake’s Melissa Rispin, each added singles. Tamara William earned the win in goal for the Timberwolves.
The following day, Ray, Toews, Stefanie Martin, Eli Davis and Cassi Hogman each lit the lamp in the winning effort. Raylea Garland posted the win between the pipes.
Montana pointed to a strong team effort leading to his team’s success.
“As a team, everyone had a really strong weekend. I think the biggest improvement on our team over the last while has been all six defence and both goaltenders were outstanding this week.
“For them to all come together at the same time is really nice. Those scores are flattering and we worked for every one of those goals.”
The play of William and Garland also provides the team with massive amounts of confidence, he said.
“We were real nervous in the first period of that second game Sunday and she [Garland] kept us in there. Raylea making those important saves, Tamara making those important saves, they’ve been so strong for us and we believe we have the best two goaltenders in the province.”
The team will now schedule in a few exhibitions games to keep sharp prior to provincials, which run from March 16-20 in Penticton. So far, Williams Lake, Penticton, Kamloops and Terrace have qualified for the eight-team tournament.
Montana believes the team has a good shot at bringing home a championship.
“All season long we’ve been really emphasizing the fact that winning is a choice,” he said. “You have to choose to buy in, choose to work hard and choose you’d prefer winning over losing. Those choices give you your best opportunities to succeed at that.”