The North Zone Royals, representing Salmon Arm, kicked off life in the new Tier 1 Midget Hockey League over the weekend.
The Royals opened up their 2016/17 campaign against the South Zone and Central Zone teams at the Shaw Centre.
The home team fell 4-1 to the visitors from the South Zone in a very spirited game Saturday.
Salmon Arm’s Josh Olson scored off of a beautiful drop pass in the slot from Dallas Stewart. Sunday’s game against the Central Zone Rockets was a nail biter right until the final buzzer.
The Royals Kohen Martin, from Sicamous, opened the scoring and then assisted the goals by Olson and Steven Luchkanych.
The visitors created quite the gap after the Royals opening goal, with their power play scoring on three of the next five opportunities, extending the lead to 4-1. Defenceman Sebastian Archambault started the push back for the home side with a ripper from the point, and Revelstoke’s Cam McKenzie would get them within one, before an empty-net goal sealed their fate in the dying seconds.
Stewart notched two more helpers in the game and Brayden Haskell notched his first point of the season.
Head Coach Rob Fitzpatrick was pleased with the team’s effort thus far and is looking forward to a very competitive season to come. The Royals are back in action this weekend as they host the Thanksgiving Classic Midget Rep Tournament at the Shaw Centre, Friday at 7:45 p.m.