Atom Development
The Fountain Tire atoms travelled to Salmon Arm on Sunday and defeated the Jr. Silverbacks 6-2.
Merritt goal scorers were Breanna Ouellet (2), Max Graham (2), Cortez Charters and Sajjin Lali. Azaria McDonnell and Matthew Newman each had a pair of assists, with singles going to Ouellet, Graham and Tryton Bose.
Peewee Girls
Three-point performances by Taylia McKeown (two goals, one assist) and Talyn Ferch (one goal, two assists) paced the Joco Transport peewee girls to a 4-2 victory over Kamloops on Saturday. The other Merritt scorer was Bianca Cavaliere, while additional assists went to Ivy Smith and Emmagin Richardson.
Janelle Gage picked up the victory in net.
The focus was on fun on the weekend as Merritt minor hockey hosted a 10-team novice tournament at the Nicola Valley and Shulus arenas.
In addition to Teams Black, White and Red from Merritt, there were two visiting squads from Williams Lake, as well as teams from Salmon Arm, Penticton, Cloverdale, Chilliwack and Kelowna.
Neither game scores nor final standings were recorded in the two-day tournament which wrapped up Minor Hockey Week in Canada for communities and associations across the country. Ian Webster/Herald
Peewee Rep
The Ramada Inn peewees edged the Kamloops Jr. Blazers 5-4 on home ice Saturday. Scoring for Merritt were Justin Tighe (2), Armoni McRae, Spencer Vaughan and Connor Ouellet. Goaltenders Tristan Bjarnason and Colton Macaulay shared the win between the pipes.
On Sunday, the Ramada Inn squad fell to Kelowna 4-2. Gillian Moore and Austin Hawkins had Merritt’s only goals.
Bantam Girls
The league-leading McDonald’s bantams lost their first game of the season on Sunday, 2-0 to Clearwater.
In the front half of the teams’ weekend doubleheader, Merritt and Clearwater battled to a 3-3 tie. Goal scorers for the McDonald’s team were not available.
The Merritt bantam girls play their final regular season game this weekend against Kamloops.
Bantam Rep
In their only league game of the weekend, the Murray GM bantams tied the Kamloops tier 3 team 3-3 on Saturday. Merritt scorers were Kaelan Lester, Travis Sterling and Sunil Sahota. Assists went to Anthony Tulliani, Tanveer Bansi, Eric Lalonde, Noah Racine and Sahota.
Sunday, the Murray GM squad were upset by Kamloops’ tier 4 side 3-2 in an exhibition game between the two teams. Only Cameron St. Louis and
Sahota were able to beat an outstanding Jr. Blazers’ netminder. Lalonde and Bansi picked up assists.
Merritt’s bantam reps wrap up their regular-season schedule with a game against West Kelowna on the weekend. They will then begin preparations for the start of the OMAHA playoffs on Jan. 31. The fourth-place Jr. Cents anticipate that their first-round opponents will be fifth-place Penticton. The two squads have tied both of their games against each other this season.
Midget Rep
In their final two regular-season games on the weekend, the Merritt Tracker Sportswear midget reps picked up a win and a tie to lock up third place in the OMAHA standings.
Saturday, Nolan Prowal’s hat trick led the Merritt team to an 8-3 victory over Chase. Other Tracker goal scorers were Tyler Edward, Marcelo Bose and Dakota Grismer-Voght.
Sunday, in a rough and tumble game that had all the intensity and emotions of playoff hockey, Merritt scored in the final 30 seconds of the third period to tie the visiting Winfield Bruins 3-3. Tracker marksmen were Bose, Edward and Grady Musgrave.
Sam Suzuki put in his usual sparkling effort in the Merritt net in both weekend games.
Action heating up during the game between Merritt Team Black and the Cloverdale Tigers on Sunday at the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena. Ian Webster/Herald
Power Skating Sessions
Merritt minor hockey has made arrangements with noted instructor Willa Brooks to run a series of power skating sessions for bantam and midget-age hockey players on Monday evenings at the Shulus arena from Jan. 27 to March 3.
Willa Brooks has over 30 years experience working closely with numerous European and North American hockey players at all levels from youth to professional.Brooks is currently working with 57 NHL players.
For more information or to register for the Willa Brooks power skating sessions, contact Robyn Grebliunas at 250-315-5851 or email [email protected].
