Over the Family Day long weekend, the Queens Cup included all three local Vancouver Island Amateur Hockey Association (VIAHA) female teams in competition as part of the biggest Powell River Minor Hockey Association tournament of the year.
Thirteen teams across three divisions competed for the cup, with thrilling games and a tremendous atmosphere at Powell River Recreation Complex all weekend.
U11 Powell River Queens headed into the tournament with a perfect 12-0-0 record in their VIAHA regular season. They opened the tournament with a hard-fought 4-4 tie, ended round-robin play with a 2-0-1 record, and took top spot in the division. A convincing win in the semi-finals set up a gold medal match against Vancouver Angels.
Vancouver opened the scoring on the power play but Queen’s defender Nadia Larsson capped off a brilliant end-to-end rush to tie the game in the second period. Vancouver struck again on a power play to retake the lead.
Powell River carried play in the third, but a tremendous effort from the Angels’ goalie preserved the win for the visitors.
In the U13 division, the local team also wrapped up a spotless 12-0-0 VIAHA regular season prior to the Queens Cup, and carried that momentum to a perfect 3-0-0 round robin record, outscoring their opponents by a combined score of 21-1.
They booked their ticket to the gold medal game with a convincing 9-0 win over Tri-Cities Predators. Made up predominantly with first year players and a few U11 affiliates, the U13 Queens displayed impressive teamwork, effort and playmaking throughout the tournament. That continued in their 6-0 victory in the gold medal final.
U13 Queens were the only team in the tournament to finish with a perfect record.
The U18 Queens featured a mixed roster of U15 and U18 players and have competed admirably all season in the VIAHA North Island U18 League. They completed round robin play with a 1-1-1 record, with no game featuring a score higher than 2-1.
This hardworking group faced a strong North Shore club in a highly contested semi-final on Sunday, and showed well in a close 3-0 loss, setting up a bronze-medal match with the rival Sechelt Blues. Powell River battled hard in a tight and physical contest, but ultimately came up short, losing 2-1 to the visitors.
“I’m extremely proud of them, with over 50 per cent of the U18 team actually being U15-aged; they were playing against girls five years older than them,” said coach Julie Venselaar. “All of their tournament games were close, most only had a one-goal differential, and they came away 1-3-1 on the weekend.”
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