The Salmon Arm Midget A Female Silvertips, sponsored by Armstrong Co-op, won the gold medal in their midget division at the Wickfest International Hockey Tournament held in Calgary last weekend.
The ’Tips went 5-0 on the way to winning the title.
The Silvertips opened the tournament with a 3-2 win over the Innisfail Flyers.
Sam Maric opened the scoring with a snap shot up high, and then the captain, Hailey Haskell scored on a slapshot from the point. Innisfail scored to tie it up and then Emily Clark scored an insurance marker on a rebound to close out the scoring.
Salmon Arm faced a team from Mexico next, and they cruised to an 8-1 win.
The Mexican team featured girls of all ages and they could not withstand the pressure from the ’Tips right from the start of the game.
Taylor Vandale, Cassidy Marshall and Cailee Bauml each scored twice, while singles were provided by Haskell and Brooke Miller. The ’Tips earned a 3-0 shut out win against the Fort Saskatchewan Fury in game three to punch their ticket to the final. Mikayla Stirling and Vandale handled the scoring.
In the final round-robin game, the Silvertips defeated Sherwood Park 3-1. Clark and Marshall scored for Salmon Arm.
The final was a rematch of the tournament opener and Salmon Arm again handled the Innisfail Flyers, easily out-shooting them on the way to a 3-1 win.
Tareyn Hanson scored her first of the season to open the scoring, and Haskell scored on a slapshot to provide a cushion.
With the Flyers pressing hard to get back in the game, Vandale scored to give a 3-0 lead with only a minute left.
The Flyers broke the shutout with nine seconds left after a crazy bounce off a skate found the back of the net.
The tournament was topped off by having Hayley Wickenheiser present the game awards to the players on the ice immediately after the game.
The ’Tips next action is at their home tournament which starts Friday, Dec. 5 with all the games being played in Sicamous.
Midget boys
The Rona Midget tier-three Silvertips kept their winning momentum going this past weekend with two league victories.
Saturday, the ’Tips visited the Winfield Bruins and, after a hard fought game, earned the two points.
Sean Moleschi opened the scoring with a great feed from Dallas Stewart, and then assistant captain, Pete Grimm put his team on his shoulders and scored four straight goals for the second game in a row to notch the 5-3 win.
Austin Anthony-Jules had a solid game on the blueline, making both his physical presence and his shot well known to the Bruins.
Sunday saw the ’Tips host Clearwater at an afternoon matinee in Sicamous. Jordan Salewski would score early for Salmon Arm, but Clearwater bounced back quickly to take a 2-1 lead.
Goaltender Kaiden Arnouse and the rest of the team would regroup and started to play the brand of tenacious and pressuring hockey they are becoming known for and took over the game in the second half. Salewski would pot two more goals to complete the Hat-Trick, and the hot stick of Grimm carried on the trend with two of his own. Assistant captain Colby Sherlock had a great supportive game, finishing with a plus four.
The four-point weekend extended the Silvertips’ unbeaten streak to three games, and provides a lot of momentum heading into the last third of the season.
The ’Tips head to Vernon next weekend for an exhibition game.