The Sooke Thunderbirds have written their ticket to the provinical hockey championships.
The local Pee Wee A hockey club clinched the Island championship last weekend by beating Mill Bay’s Kerry Park Islanders in a best-of-three playoff. The Thunderbirds beat the Islanders in two straight games.
On Saturday Sooke hosted Kerry Park and the Thunderbirds came out on the winning side of a 13-4 score.
Sooke travelled to Kerry Park on Sunday and clinched the championship with a big 8-1 victory.
Persevering through penalty after penalty, Sooke goalie Alex Kozinka and dominating defense Tait Bishop, Koby Knowles, Beau Hicks and Luke Arden, only allowed one puck in between the pipes.
Forward lines of Trey Anderson, Jack Price, Grant Gilbertson, Gary Isaacson, Ryder MacDonald, Curtis Morrison, Owen Phipps and Nicholas Anderson peppered Kerry Park’s goalie with shot after shot.
The Sooke Thunderbirds are coached by Marty Knowles, Al Phipps, Mike Mowat and Derek Bishop. Top defender Conner Keys is also part of this year’s team.
The provincial championships are March 13 to 18 in West Vancouver.
Midget Female eye playoff run
The Sooke Thunderbirds Midget Females kept their playoff hopes alive last weekend with wins over Island rivals.
In what many considered the team’s best game of the year, Sooke shutout Victoria 3-0.
The game was fast paced and was tied 0-0 after two. Hailey Dimock scored two in the third and Chevy Alexander put it away with a late goal. Selena Madill was brilliant once again in earning the shutout.
Sunday was a nail biter from start to finish.
Cowichan came to Sooke with no chance of making the playoffs but they did all they could to derail the playoff chances of their bitter rivals.
Cowichan came out flying and held a 1-0 lead after one. Jasmine Kumar tapped in a beautiful pass from Desiree Cumming to tie the game after two. Alyssa Lloyd scored the only goal of the third period to give Sooke a 2-1 victory
Nanaimo visits Sooke on Sunday (Feb. 28) in a must-win game for both teams. Game time is 2:30 p.m.
A victory will propel the Sooke girls into the Island playoffs, set for March 5 and 6 in Parksville.