The Salmon Arm Elite Hockey School female bantam A Silverbacks opened their regular season in Kamloops against the female Blazers on the weekend, narrowly edging out the opposition by one goal to lock down a 3-2 victory.
Natasha Kociuba opened the scoring for the Silverbacks at the 15:37 mark of the first period, slipping the puck through the five-hole of the Blazer’s goaltender on the power play.
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After trading chances without scoring in the second, Kamloops would tie it up and then take the lead with a pair of goals halfway through the third.
Brooklyn Sewell tied it up for Salmon Arm three minutes later, when she tried a pass out from the corner which deflected off a defender’s skate.
Taking a cue from her teammate, Kasey Huber gave the ’Backs a lead just 46 seconds later, banking the puck off the Blazer’s sprawling net-minder from virtually the same spot in the corner
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Kamloops pressed hard for the equalizer, and even harder when granted a power play with time winding down in the third, but the ’Backs proved equal to the task, with Chelsea West in net firmly slamming the door on any scoring chances and securing the victory.
The female bantam A Silverbacks play a pair of home games against Williams Lake and Sicamous next weekend.
Submitted by Peter Kociuba
