News

Photo Courtesy:
Divanelly Blanco

WENATCHEE, Wash. - The Wenatchee Wild Hockey Academy's 18-and-Under and 15-Only teams got within arm's reach of earning victories this past weekend - for the Academy's 15O program, it would have been the first of the season. For the Wenatchee 18U team, the task is to battle back from a shorthanded stretch where the injury bug has taken a bite out of the lineup.

In three games this past week, the 18U team got closest to a win in its final game against Burnaby Winter Club, after taking a 7-0 loss to RINK Hockey Academy on Thursday at Town Toyota Center and a 6-1 defeat Saturday against BWC. With just 13 skaters in the lineup on Sunday, though, Wenatchee nearly battled to a win in a 5-4 decision. Down 4-1, Liam Craggan scored a power play goal with 18 seconds to go in the second period, and Oakdin Hanson cut the BWC lead to 4-3 with 3:28 off the clock in the third. The tying goal, however, never came - the Wild 18U team finished 2-for-5 on the power play, and Sean Strasser impressed with three assists, while Mason Lynnes stood guard in net with 48 saves.

"At the end of the day, when you're playing a good program like Burnaby Winter Club, you're going to get tired," said Wenatchee Wild Hockey Academy director Troy Mick. "That's especially on Sunday, which was our third game in four days, because we played Sunday as well. The guys worked hard and competed, so I'm proud of them. We've just got to get a little smarter structurally."

The 16U team was competitive in its own right, with 5-2 and 3-0 decisions on Saturday and Sunday. Rylan O'Mahony had assists on both goals in Saturday's game. The 15O team made a two-day visit to the Tri-Cities for a Northwest Amateur Hockey League pair against the Jr. Americans, but dropped a 4-2 contest on Saturday and a 7-1 finish on Sunday.

"The 16s worked really hard," said Mick. "They don't have that natural scorer on their team, so everything they do on offense has to come collectively. They had as good a chance to win their last two games as they've had (all year), and the guys are working hard and creating opportunities."

While the 14U team has taken a few weeks off from competition and the 15O team has battled league competition, the scene shifts for the weekend teams this week, as the 14U team squares off with STAR Academy this weekend and the 15O team returns to practice. The CSSHL schedule slows somewhat this weekend for the 16U program, with a Sunday morning game against Delta Hockey Academy. The 18U team also faces Delta on Sunday morning, but will open its weekend with a Friday evening affair against Okanagan Hockey Academy. That game gets underway at 5 p.m. Friday evening on the TTC's arena rink.