Richmond Ravens solidified themselves as one of the top girls hockey programs in the province by capturing a pair of B.C. banners last week.
The Ravens’ Midget A1 and Bantam A1 teams both capped tremendous seasons with championship victories at their respective tournaments. The Midget A1s rolled to five straight wins in Penticton, while the Bantams won five of six games in Castlegar.
The Midget Ravens avenged last season’ heartbreaking 4-3 gold medal game loss to the North Island Impact to deliver veteran coach AJ Sander his third B.C. title in four years.
The game was scoreless after two periods when Richmond’s Yvonne Mikulcik converted a feed from Marisa Chau to open the scoring just seven seconds into the final frame. Mikulcik struck again five minutes later, this time on a set-up from Natalie Lester, to give the Ravens some breathing room. Chau added an empty netter in the final minute.
Richmond had secured a spot in the championship game with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over eventual bronze medalist Williams Lake. Chau’s first period goal stood up as the winner.
The Ravens opened the tournament with a 3-0 win over Cranbrook, highlighted by a pair of goals from Briana Trottier. The girls then defeated Terrace 3-1.
Richmond also cruised to a 5-1 win over the host team from Penticton. The Ravens’ outstanding discipline and sportsmanship were reflected in also taking home the Fair Play Award.
In Castlegar, the Bantam Ravens defeated their arch-rival for the second time this month with a banner on the line to take home provincial gold.
After finishing just a single point behind the Surrey Falcons in the regular season standings, Tony Lindsay’s squad produced a narrow 1-0 home ice triumph to capture the Pacific Coast Amateur Hockey playoff title. They earned two more wins over their rival at provincials, including a dominating 6-0 victory in the championship game.
The Ravens took a 1-0 lead into the second period, then took full control with three more goals in the middle frame. Darci Johal led the way with a pair of goals. Kate Reilly, Kristen Abo Maddie Warren and Karina Lannard had the others.
The earlier round-robin match-up saw Richmond pull out a 4-3 thriller, netting the tying goal with less than two minutes remaining and its goalie on the bench. The game winner came with just 30 seconds left. Myah Bowal led the way with a hat trick. Lannard also scored.
Richmond opened the tournament with a 6-1 win over Kelowna, led by another three goal effort from Bowal. Hannah Green was also among the scorers.
The Ravens then dropped a 3-2 decision to the South Island Royals, despite two goals from Jenna Velji. The girls rebounded later that night with a 4-0 triumph over the hosts. Bowal and Velji each netted a pair.
Jenna Ehling and Brynn Waisman shared the goaltending duties.
