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A fast-paced attack and a stifling defence produced a second consecutive B.C. U16A ringette championship for the Kelowna Elite on Sunday at the Rutland Arena.
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The defending provincial champions shut out the Vernon Impact 5-0 in the championship game, capping a perfect weekend that included five straight victories and their third tournament win of the season.
The provincial triumph also earned the Kelowna Ringette Association team a berth at the Western Canadian championship in Saskatoon later this month.
Jessye Large and Kianna McRae both scored twice while Brianna Panagos added a single goal and Sajan Kandola stood tall in net to record a hard-earned shutout in the championship match.
The Elite secured a berth in the final with four round-robin wins in the five-team event hosted by the Kelowna Ringette Association.
The home team opened the three-day event the way it started — defeating its hard-working northern rivals from Vernon (5-2) — sparked by another two goals from Large. Georgia Macdonald, fresh off a bronze-medal win at the B.C. Winter Games, added a goal along with McRae and Stewart.
Game 2 saw the Elite waltz to an 8-2 victory over Prince George while they had a much tougher time with Burnaby/New Westminster, edging the Lower Mainland representatives 2-1 in overtime. Large notched both goals for the winners.
A four-goal effort by Large set the pace for the Elite in the final round-robin game — a 7-3 decision over Vancouver. Stewart, Panagos and Talia Russouw rounded out the scoring.
For nine players with the Elite, it was their second straight provincial U16A title while the other four players won a U14A B.C. championship a year ago. Many of the players on this year’s Elite team also won a U14A provincial championship two seasons ago.
For head coach Todd MacMillan, it’s the fifth consecutive season he’s coached a KRA team to a provincial championship.
He said the key to success in past years and again on the past weekend was playing a high tempo, in-your-face game that takes the time and space away from the opposition.
“I couldn’t be more proud of this group,” said the coach. “They were relentless on the ring all weekend and controlled and protected it (the ring) when they had it — which was a good portion of the tournament.”
Winning was nothing new to the Elite, who were coming off a gold-medal performance (undefeated) in the recent KRA Sweetheart Tournament in Kelowna and a Thompson-Okanagan Ringette League championship.
Last year, the Elite finished fourth among five teams at the Western Canadian tournament, but with the nine returnees having another year’s experience, they expect to be in contention for a medal in 2018.
“Why Not Us” has been their motto all season, and that will continue in Saskatchewan beginning on March 23.
The KRA played host to 15 teams in three divisions on the weekend, with the host U19A team earning a silver medal.
After finishing second in round-robin play, the Kelowna U19s defeated the Fraser Valley team 9-4 in semifinal play before dropping a 6-4 decision to Richmond in the gold-medal match on Sunday.
In U14 play, Kelowna claimed the bronze medal after falling 7-4 to Vancouver in playoff action on Sunday morning. Vernon won the provincial title by defeating Vancouver 7-5 in the championship match.
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