Athletes from Carihi and Timberline Secondary Schools who joined forces less than a month ago were able to make it to the semi-finals of the provincial ball hockey championships in Surrey on May 27-28.
Coach Tylere Couture explained that because of the relatively small size of Campbell River’s high schools compared to those in larger cities, the provincial tournament organizers allowed the two schools to join forces.
“After practicing for three weeks, the team took a day trip to Victoria to play their first two exhibition games ever,” he said. “Then they were off to Surrey for the High School Provincial Championships tournament.”
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The Seawolves dropped game one of the round robin 5-1 to the Maple Ridge Ramblers, with Ty Easton picked up the lone Campbell River goal.
They kept their playoff hopes alive later that evening by defeating the Frank Hurt Hornets in a 2-1 nail biter on goals by Easton and Spencer Uzzell-Paulos, Couture said.
The momentum continued with a 7-3 win over the Fraser Heights Firehawks in game three the following morning, clinching a spot in the semi-finals.
The squad was led by captain Carson Harris’s three points, and goalie Andrew Billard shutting the door.
“Though Easton scored in his third straight game of the tournament, he also received a two-game suspension as result of coming to the defense of one of his teammates,” Couture said.
Uzzell-Paulos and Philip Gauthier each had two goals, and Liam Mortimer netted one.
In the semi-finals that afternoon, the Seawolves faced off against the Surrey School District champions, Ecole Salish Wolves.
“Without one of their leading scorers out, running into penalty trouble, and questionable reffing the Seawolves ran out of steam, losing 6-0,” Couture said.
A couple decades ago the city had it’s own adult ball hockey league the coach added.
“Teams from that Campbell River league notched two provincial championships,” he said. “You’d be hard pressed to find someone who played in that league who doesn’t look back on it with nostalgic fondness. There have even been rumours around the rink that the league may start back up again.”
editor@campbellrivermirror.com
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