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PENTICTON, British Columbia - The Wenatchee Wild Hockey Academy's on-ice season is almost over, with three games remaining on the Under-18 team's Canadian Sport School Hockey League schedule. The Wild U17 team closed out its 2023-24 campaign in Penticton last week with the CSSHL's Tier II Western championships, taking one of the three games to overtime. Down 4-0 last Monday, Wenatchee battled back with goals from Brayden Barker and Dylan Johnson before ultimately taking a 5-2 defeat to Notre Dame Prep. They battled back again last Tuesday against Indigenous Sports Academy, erasing a two-goal deficit with a tying marker from Cal Kellenberg with under three minutes left, dropping a 3-2 decision at the 3:05 mark of the extra session. Nathaniel Madrigal made 40 saves in the final game of the playoff, 19 of them in the first period, to close out the week with a 3-0 loss to RINK Hockey Academy of Winnipeg.

"The first 10 minutes sealed our fate in that first game, but we came back to win the rest of the game 2-1," said Wild Hockey Academy director Troy Mick. "I was proud of their work ethic - we didn't get some of our bounces. We played hard this week, but at the end of the day, it just wasn't good enough. I was proud of our effort - the guys never quit in any situation, and we had a chance in the games other than that first one."

The 14U and 2008 weekend programs had already closed out their seasons, leaving only the Academy's U18 team to finish out the year. Three games are on the slate for Thursday, Friday and Saturday - Thursday's game against Pilot Mound Hockey Academy will be played at Oliver Arena, south of Penticton, while Friday and Saturday's games against Notre Dame Prep and Coeur d'Alene Academy will both be played at South Okanagan Events Centre. After the season ends, players will continue with three-day-a-week training on ice, and many of the players will compete for varsity sports teams at Eastmont High School in East Wenatchee, where they attend classes.

"We'll do a lot of stickhandling, running, hiking in the community, we'll go play pickleball - we've got a bunch of different things that we'll do together as a team," said Mick. "We'll make sure the guys are still getting their reps in on the ice, but now it's really focused on the educational aspect - get the highest marks you can. A lot of our players will play on the Eastmont athletic teams - there are a lot of guys who have made the Eastmont baseball team. They've made the golf team, they've got soccer, they've got a bunch of different things. It's really cool to see that evolve in itself, where last year we never would have had the opportunity."

Thursday's game in Oliver is set to begin at 1:30 p.m., while Friday and Saturday's games get started at 10:45 a.m. and 11:00 a.m., respectively.