In fine form, the host Salmon Arm Silvertips placed third overall at the Midget Female Provincial Championships held at the Shaw Centre March 19-23.
Although Salmon Arm defeated Kelowna in round- robin play, Kelowna tallied enough points to finish second overall, with the Richmond girls claiming the title of provincial champs. Salmon Arm won three, lost two and tied one for seven points overall.
In an evenly matched game Monday, the Silvertips played Surrey with no goals scored until the third. Although Salmon Arm was the first to score with a goal from Hayley Silcocks (assisted by Lisa Campeau), the team went on to lose the game 3-1.
Tuesday, Salmon Arm faced the Mid-North Island Extreme, taking the lead in the first with three quick goals. Those goals were scored by Campeau (Taylor Lund/Jenna Lazar), Summer Jespersen (Haily Haskell/Sarah Botter), and Jesperson (Haskell). Mid North Island went on to tie the game up at 3-3.
On Wednesday, Salmon Arm met Kelowna in a match-up that ended in a strong 4-1 victory for the local team. Salmon Arm took initial control, scoring four in the first half, with goals from Botter (Jespersen), Lund (Campeau), Silcocks (Ali Roine) and Maddison Turner (Jespersen). Kelowna scored their only goal in the second period.
In their second game Wednesday, Salmon Arm played Richmond, losing to the fast-skating squad 3-0. Goalie Jasmine El Gazzar was outstanding in net, facing 50 shots overall.
Against the Windermere Valley Thursday, Salmon Arm was a dominant force, winning the game 3-1. Salmon Arm opened the scoring in the first with a goal from Botter (Jessie Murphy/Lund). The other goals came from Jespersen (Lannie Houle) and Botter, who scored into an empty net at 0.50 of the third.
In the final game of the round-robin series Friday, the hometown favourites met the Whitehorse Mustangs for a high-scoring game that saw Salmon Arm take third place overall, winning it 7-4. Leading in scoring was Botter with two goals overall (Jespersen/unassisted), followed by Campeau (Lund), Botter (Murphy), Silcocks (Murphy), Turner (Ashley Tinney), and Houle (Phoenix Lawrey).