Williams Lake U13 Female Timberwolves won big at the largest all female hockey tournament in North America.
The Canadian Tire Wickfest Tournament returned to Surrey Feb. 3-5 and was the host to 80 teams of all different ages.
Williams Lake went undefeated through round robin play and faced Kelowna in the finals Sunday.
The team finished with a convincing 6-2 win to take home their second gold medal since winning the River City Faceoff Tournament in Kamloops Jan. 22.
“The team has been working hard all season and every player has improved,” said head coach Kayla Lucas.
“This group is such a pleasure to coach. Their effort and willingness to out work other teams has definitely contributed to their success.”
Winning in Kamloops was a huge boost of confidence for the team.
They won two games and lost one in a difficult pool to claim a semi final berth against a rivalled Kamloops team.
They battled hard to climb out of a 4-2 deficit in the third period to tie the game and force sudden death three-on- overtime. “The girls had their sights set on the gold medal game, they prepared to be there all weekend,” said Lucas. “We had to dig deep and scored the game winner with just a minute and 20 seconds left in the overtime.”
The team went on to beat the Prince George Capitals in the final and fifth game of the weekend. They found themselves down a goal and had to battle back, tying the game with just six minutes left in the third.
Soon after they scored the go-ahead goal and an empty net goal to seal the deal.
“Prince George is usually a tough match-up for us, and we knew it would be a challenge. We are very proud of every player and their resilience - they played hard for each other and were rewarded.”
The T-Wolves are now gearing up for a pair of league play weekends and NCD playoffs with their sights set on a berth to the Provincials in March.
Lucas encourages the community to come support the girls as they take on Kamloops with a pair of games Feb. 11 at 5:15 p.m. and Feb. 12 at 10:30 a.m. at the Cariboo Memorial Complex.
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