The Richmond Ravens Midget AA girls hockey team made the most of its trip to the Okanagan last weekend by capturing a tournament in Kelowna for the second straight year.
The two-time defending B.C. champions, coached by AJ Sander, defeated the Vancouver Island Impact 5-2 in the championship game. The Ravens power play connected four times, including a third period hat trick by Sabrina Shigeoka. Yvonne Mikulcik also scored.
The result avenged a 3-2 opening game loss to the Impact. Kaitlyn Yan and Mikulcik had the Richmond goals.
The girls bounced back with a 4-2 victory over the Salmon Arm Silvertips. After falling behind 2-0 five minutes into the contest, the Ravens went to work by pulling even on goals by Briana Trottier and Emily Chau. Power play tallies by Holly Gill and Trottier completed the comeback.
Richmond then cruised to a 5-1 victory against the host Kelowna Rockets. Kaelon Baker, Kiki Richardson, Mikulcik, Gill and Chau were the goalscorers.
The Ravens' power play was exceptional throughout the tournament, accounting for 13 of their 17 goals.
Richmond received strong play on the blueline, led by captain Tamara Wong, Ross, Baker, Misa Sekawa-Luding, Alicia Voss and assistant captain Shigeoka. Injured defenceman Alexandra Cafik-Irwin and Hartley McCallum cheered the team on from the stands.
Up front, assistant captain Gill, Yan, Mikulcik, Trottier, Richardson and Emily Chau helped with getting goals while being supported by forwards Marisa Chau, Carey Ogryzlo, Athena Rados and Eveyln Tran. Goaltenders Harmony Sander and Dominque D`Amour also enjoyed a stellar weekend.
The result made it five consecutive tournament wins in October for the midget "A" program. Richmond won the Mid Island Extreme Tournament three times (2009-11) before enjoying success in Kelowna.
