Powell River Minor Hockey's Sunshine Disposal Kings won gold at the 2024 under-11A Kings Cup Tournament on home ice on January 7 at Hap Parker Arena.
According to an account by team manager Randi Green, the Kings beat Comox Strathcona Bears 4-3 to earn the gold medal.
On January 5, Powell River opened their weekend with a 4-1 loss to the Bears. On January 6, the Kings beat Victoria Racquet Club (VRC) 18-1 and Burnaby Wildcats 16-4. This set up a Sunday rematch against the Bears, who were the first seed after the round robin, with three wins and no losses.
Burnaby finished third in the round robin with a record of one win and two losses, while Victoria was winless in the round robin. VRC and Burnaby met again in the bronze medal game with VRC edging Burnaby in a 5-4 thriller.
Victoria was down 2-1 going into the third period and outscored Burnaby 4-2 in the period to earn the bronze. Burnaby's Charlotte Ma had two goals and one assist. VRC's Sebastian Quon had four goals in the game and Evan Rippington scored the winning goal with 7:40 remaining in the third period.
Green stated that the gold medal matchup was the third meeting between the Powell River and Comox teams this season. Comox had won the previous two games, 7-4 on December 3 in addition to the round robin meeting at the Kings Cup.
The teams played a tight-checking, scoreless first period, according to Green. Kings had two one-goal leads, with goals from Kohen Louie and Will Hawkins in the second period, but Comox found the equalizer both times.
Comox scored early in the third period to take a 3-2 lead on a lucky bounce off a Kings defender. Miller Pitman tied the game on a power-play goal off a rebound from a point shot. Abel Green scored the winner on a breakaway with nine minutes remaining in the third period.
Green stated that Greyson Carlos was terrific in net and made spectacular saves to secure the gold.
Sunshine Disposal Kings’ roster includes: goalies Greyson Carlos and Alexander Devlin, and skaters Jordan Barrows, Tristan Bordignon, Grace Caldarone, Jase Fauteux, Aiden Fougere, Abel Green, Connor Gustafson, William Hawkins, Tobin LeBlanc, Kohen Louie, George Mathieu, Miller Pitman, Carter Ricketson and Kyle van Diemen.
U11 Kings will be in action again on January 14 versus Campbell River. The game starts at 1:30 pm on the rink in Powell River Recreation Complex. The winner will be in first place in Vancouver Island Amateur Hockey Association’s division three.
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