The 100 Mile House Bantam Rep Wranglers were off to the Okanagan this past weekend. Their first game was against the first place Penticton Vees. The team knew this was going to be a challenging game since 100 Mile is in last place in the Okanagan Mainline Amateur Hockey Ass.(OMAHA) league. The team played hard and never gave up. They held the Vees to only two goals in the first period. The Wranglers tried hard but could not get a goal past the Vees’ goalie. 100 Mile continued to play a physical game which resulted in penalties and the squad couldn’t stop the top team. The game ended in an 11-0 loss for the Wranglers. Goaltender Joey Isaac faced 74 shots.
Playing later in the afternoon the Wranglers drove to West Kelowna to play the Warriors. 100 Mile started out strong and continued to give the Warriors a run for their money as they thought this would be an easy win for them. West Kelowna got on the board first with two goals but was soon matched by a goal from centerman Aidan Moore. Then Cole Allan scored one with a sweet pass from Kyson Hopson. West Kelowna scored again in the last minute of play in the second. Goaltender Ryan Chamberlain found his rhythm and was making some crazy amazing saves. Each team continued to battle hard, then with five minutes left in the third period, Hopson scored the third goal tying the game with an assist from forward Allan. Chamberlain and his team kept the pressure on and didn’t allow any goals for the Warriors and the Wranglers got their first tie of the season. The game ended 3-3.
On Sunday the team was off to Kelowna to play the Rockets. 100 Mile opened up the goal scoring with a beauty of a goal from Allan with an assist from Brayden Meyers-Brundage and Virgil Kennedy. The Rockets evened the score. Then forward Colton Huber-Hopkins backhanded the puck into the net with a textbook pass from Hopson.
The Rockets then retaliated with one. Next, off the draw at centre ice, Hopson took a slap shot to bring the team ahead.
With a minute left in the first, the Rockets tied it up. The Wranglers dominated the second period scoring five goals. Moore found the back of the net with a heads up pass from Kennedy. Hopson got a breakaway and potted another. Then Meyers-Brundage hit the net with a wicked goal. Kennedy, who kept the pressure on the Kelowna team, scored two more awesome goals with an assist from Moore, giving the Wranglers a four goal lead. The Rockets came out with a vengeance in the third and scored two back-to-back goals. The crowd was nervous as the Rockets were putting the pressure on. Then Hopson got a goal to make it a hat-trick for the game but the Kelowna team scored again. The Wranglers were feeling the pressure and continued to work hard as a team with Goalie Issac making some great saves at crucial times. The 100 Mile team was able to hold off the Kelowna Rockets and got their first league win! The final was 9-7.
The 100 Mile Bantam Rep Wranglers will be selling raffle tickets soon with a prize from Via Rail worth $1,000 and a Kumsheen rafting trip. Tickets will be $5 each or five for $20. Each player will have tickets to sell. The team continues to collect bottles and will pick up too. Contact Kyra Hopson at 250-706-9690. The money raised will help fund the team’s trip to Kitimat for the Provincials in March.
Thank you for your continued support of our young hockey players.