Oceanside’s Midget Rep female Icebreakers are the toast of the town, mining gold in Richmond and running the table on their season.
A rare accomplishment to be sure, the high octane squad were unbeatable at the Richmond Ice Classic — the largest female hockey tournament in Western Canada, hosted by the Richmond Ravens — last weekend in a tourney that according to OMHA female hockey coordinator Sue Street featured 70 teams from as far as San Jose, California and Ontario.
Oceanside had two teams in the mix — the Peewee Icebreakers competed in the Peewee C1 category (two divisions above their normal level of play). The peewee girls finished second in their pool, and the other Icebreakers team was competing in the Female Midget C1 category, “two tiers above the level of their regular season play as well.”
“It was a fantastic tournament with some wonderful high level competition,” said Street, a longtime dedicated volunteer for female hockey.
What made the accomplishment even sweeter was that they were the underdogs. According to Street, Oceanside was seated in a category that was two tiers higher than their normal level of play, “and rose to the challenge,” going unbeaten in round robin action with wins over Williams Lake, Abbotsford and Comox Valley to clinch a spot in the gold medal game.
Against CV for a rematch Street described as “a nail-biting, end to end, action-packed game,” that ended in a 3-3 tie, sending the game to a five minute 4-on-4 sudden death victory period, and when that didn’t solve anything, the game was decided by shoot out.
Oceanside’s Lexi Kosteckyj scored the shootout winner, which assistant coach Marissa Jordan called a “beauty goal.”
Street pointed out that the tourney marked their final time with the team for Shayna Twamley, Addy Abdurahman and Meyer who are “aging out.”
Guiding the team this year was head coach Mike Squire with help from assistant coaches Dan Campbell, Roger Chamberlain and Marissa Jordan and team manages Kim Meyer and Wendi Murray.
“The dedication of the players, coaches and parents of the team has been unbelievable,” Street said, adding, “the girls have finished first in their league as the top female midget team on the Island this year and went on to win the VIAHA Female Midget C playoffs as well.”