The Merritt Prowlers have returned victorious from a hard-fought second place at the Gambler’s Cup in Las Vegas last week.
The local team went undefeated in all their games leading up to the final, where they met stiff competition from an Edmonton team on the ice.
The first tilt against Ponoka, Alta.’s Silverados saw the Prowlers come out on top 4-1, and Prowler Kayla Boston named player of the game. Boston scored twice for the locals, with the other two scored by Shawna Gabriel and Cheryl Billy-Gilbert.
Against Edmonton’s Enoch GGs in their second game, the Prowlers eked out a 2-1 win, with Cheryl Billy-Gilbert finding the back of the net first and Dayna Oppenheim scoring the game-winner with just 38 seconds left on the clock.
Oppenheim was named player of the game.
Up next the Prowlers laid waste to the Los Angeles Lady Trojans in Canada’s game, wining by the mercy rule once the score reached 8-0 for the locals.
Back row, from left: Jacqui Schneider, Dayna Oppenheim, Shawna Gabriel, Celeste Henry, Dakota Deneault, Avis Deneault, Rene Pike and Tamara George. Front row, from left: Kalea Nokleby, Mary Michel, Cheryl Billy-Gilbert, Kayla Boston, Candace Archachan and Lucy Henry. Photo submitted
Candace Archachan got the shutout in net, while Shawna Gabriel scored a hat trick and earned herself player of the game.
The tournament wrapped up on Saturday in a nail-biter fight to the finish between the local women’s rec hockey team and the Enoch GGs out of Edmonton.
The Enoch GGs scored the game’s only goal in four-on-four sudden death overtime with just 39 seconds left.
Along with their silver medals, the Prowlers left Las Vegas with $250 in their team’s pocket to put toward their next tournament hosted by Canadian Hockey Enterprise, either in Las Vegas, Montreal or Banff in November.
The Prowlers had a good showing of local support in Nevada, with at least a dozen fans making the trip from Merritt to cheer them on.
