Hockey season this year concluded with a thundering finale at the Provincials in Dawson Creek last week, after our Sooke Thunderbirds Midget A boys brought home third place Bronze out of a total of eight other teams from across B.C.
Though losing to Quesnel 4-2 on Wednesday, the ‘Birds held their ground against their final match against Coquitlam, bringing in an excellent score of 6 - 3 and securing their bronze.
And, as expected, it was a fast-paced, hard-hitting game - good hockey, as Kevin Berger, Coach, Sooke Thunderbirds Boys Midget A team puts it.
“It was a good, tight game, and it was a lot of work for the boys to get out there,” he said. “They came together as a team and worked hard; the teams we went up against, they were really competitive, so really, it was just good hockey.”
Berger says Sooke got three goals in the first period, two in the second - and though Coquitlam seemed to be making a comeback during the third period - the boys then we ended it with a final sixth goal.
While gold was within reach, Berger says being able to compete - and win - against the gold-winning team, as well as several other hard-trained teams was nothing short of exhilarating.
“You always wonder how your team is going to stack up against the rest of B.C., so to get up there and see the best and actually be able to compete with them was pretty awesome,” he said.
Berger says that in the end, it was the team spirit that came through above all else.
“It was a great game, great finish. We had a great goalie; in our team, there isn’t one superstar, it’s all the kids; they all play hard,” he said. “It’s been like that all season in order for us to pull out a win - all the kids show up to play.”
And it wasn’t just the Sooke hockey boys who had a stellar performance last weekend, either.
The Sooke girls hockey teams faced off against the best of the best at the Richmond tournament, with Atom brining in Silver, Pewee and Bantam bringing in Bronze, and Midget finishing fourth overall.