A 6-3 victory against the Langley Eagles helped the Penticton Game Action Photo peewee recreation hockey team clinch their own tournament Sunday at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
Game Action Photo, along Penticton Peerless/McCoy and the Firefighting Vees, hosted the event. Game Action Photo coach Shea Sanche said winning the tournament was his team’s goal. He said they played excellent while accomplishing that.
“A real good, strong forecheck and they created a lot of turnovers and scored a lot of goals that way,” said Sanche.
Penticton played the Eagles in their first game and won 5-3, with the fifth goal scored in an empty net. Game Action Photo then routed Chilliwack 8-2 and Trail 9-3. They defeated Semiahmoo 7-3 in the semifinal.
To get those results, Sanche said his players worked hard in practice. The tournament win was their first of the season in two tries.
Sanche said both his goaltenders, Joey Pitt and Braiden Marshall, played superb. He said his centres had a strong weekend and was pleased with Jacob and Ryan Barth.
“Jake Stocker played well,” said Sanche. “Scored some really important goals. Affiliate player Brennan Nelson, he was outstanding.”
Sanche said his players were thrilled once they won the tournament. Other members of the team include Adam Sanche, AJ Reiter, Eathan O’Rourke, Balmeet Tatla, Kenya Standish, Tyler Danis, Carson Leitch, Kieran Simpson and Kieran Meilke.
Sanche also credited the parents for their work in organizing the weekend.
“They did a great job. We got a lot of compliments from the other teams,” he said.
Penticton’s Peerless/McCoy team No. 2 finished sixth, while the Penticton Firefighting Vees were eighth. The Firefighting Vees went 1-3. They lost their opening game against Chilliwack 2-1 and defeated Vernon in their final game 4-3. The Firefighting Vees were recognized with the Fair Play Team award for the least penalty minutes.
In other minor hockey, the Tier 2 midget Vees won their league thanks to two victories on the weekend. On Saturday the Vees played in Kelowna and came out with a hard-fought 5-3 win. On Sunday, the Vees hosted West Kelowna and crushed them 9-3. They had a 2-0 lead after the first period then West Kelowna came back to tie it up half-way through the second. The Vees tapped in two more before going into the third and West Kelowna got another with one minute left in the second. The Vees then blew it open in the third with five goals.
Members Vees are: Eythan Brown; Tyler Ehlers; Spencer Hook; Jackson DeMatos; Lawrence Langan, Brandon Locket; Cooper Prechel, Tyrell Buckely, Quinn Harris, Donavan Teichrob, Michael Crawford; Dennis Zoeller, Blake Holowaty, , Liam Hutcheson, Franky Anderson and Jesse Keylock. Coached by Geoff Goodman, assistants Lance Vaillancourt and Kurtis Stuckey with Team Manager Michelle Swetlikoe. The Vees will begin their playoffs on Feb. 8.