Four hockey teams battled it out on the ice at the Cowichan Lake Sports Arena this weekend in the Lake Cowichan Midget Hockey is Life tournament, Feb. 15-17.
In the end it was the Oceanside Red Raves who skated away with the gold. The Semiahmoo Highlanders took the silver, leaving the Countrywide Midget Lakers holding the bronze title.
The Lakers lost their first game on Friday to Oceanside 7-4, but came up with a convincing win in their first game on Saturday against the Gold River Hawks, 9-3.
In spite of some disparate scores, especially for the team from Gold River, Midget coach Lonnie Ferguson said it wasn’t a reflection on the quality of hockey being played.
“The score wasn’t indicative of the game,” said Ferguson at the end of their game. “Both teams played well, but they just kept missing their shots.”
At this point in the tournament the Lakers were 1 for 1, and in their third game they were set to face the Highlanders.
“We’re now facing the team that tied their game against Oceanside, the team that beat us yesterday,” he commented.
That game proved to be one to watch, as both teams wanted the win that would secure them a spot in the final. It was 1-0 for the Highlanders at the end of the first period. At one point, two Lakers’ players were in the penalty box, but their opponents didn’t manage a goal. Likewise for the Highlanders, who headed into the second period with two of their players in the penalty box.
The score at the end of regulation time was a 3-3 tie, putting the team from Semiahmoo into second place and giving them a spot in the final match against the first-place Red Raves, who never seemed to look back throughout the whole tournament.
Going for the bronze, the Lakers kept up their strength against Gold River for a 11-0 win to end the tournament.