Two 100 Mile House peewee hockey teams – the A&M Towing Wreckers and the Norbord Lumberjacks – have advanced to the second round of the Okanagan Mainline Amateur Hockey Association playoffs.
The Wreckers beat Merritt 7-1 in the first game of the second round in 100 Mile House on Feb. 7, after finishing third place in the regular season. They won a first round, best-of-three playoff series, against a sixth place Lillooet team, Jan. 29-31.
Against Merritt, the players really stepped up with an outstanding game, says team manager Corinne Moore.
“While offensive effort shows itself on the scoresheet, the defensive game was truly outstanding with great efforts from every skater on the ice. Virgil Kennedy stepped out of his usual strong offensive role to cover Merritt's number one scorer, who was held to just one assist this game. We got the first goal and never looked back. Merritt played well but just had no answer to some strong forechecking and strong defensive play.”
Kyson Hopson notched four goals, while Jackson Hooper added a pair and Mat Wilden added one. Marshall Heit, Colby Glen, Jaci Gilbert, Leandro Lang and Hopson tallied assists.
The series continues in Merritt on Feb. 13.
The Lumberjacks finished fifth in the regular season and beat a third place Lillooet squad in a best-of-three first round, Jan. 30-31.
The Lumberjacks now meet first place Clearwater in the semi finals.
The Lumberjacks edged Lillooet, 3-1, in Lac la Hache on Jan. 30 and 5-2 in Lillooet on Jan. 31.
Bradley Bissat, Tyler Guimond and Julian Zucchelli scored for 100 Mile House in Lac la Hache. Logan Worthington, Martin Stillas and Jadyn Monical assisted on the goals.
In Lillooet on Jan. 31, Monical and Zucchelli each notched a pair of goals while Shayne Sutton scored the first of the game. Dana Quintal, Ethan Stuckel and Monical tallied assists.