An Okotoks Peewee female hockey team atoned for its only loss of the tournament to beat the host in their second meeting and win the provincial championship.
The Okotoks Peewee Tier 1 Oilers won the Peewee B female provincial tournament 2-1 in an overtime win over the host Innisfail Flyers on March 25, in a meeting of familiar foes. Innisfail gave Okotoks its only loss in the group stage of the 10-team tournament.
“We had played Innisfail three times previous to this tournament and had beaten them every time so in the round robin game when we met that was probably a bit of a factor,” said Oilers head coach Greg Bodnarchuk. “We didn’t play very well and the girls certainly could have played better and that was the message from us going into the final game.
“They all wanted the opportunity to play them again, it bothered them that they lost and so the stage was set to battle it out one more time.”
Okotoks made its second shot at the hosts count.
Halle Bodnarchuk got the Oilers off on the right foot in the final with a first period tally. The Flyers would tie the game up 1-1 in the second period with the teams skating to a stalemate all the way until the second period of overtime. Oilers assistant captain Janae Ramsay potted the provincial winning goal on a shot from distance.
“The second overtime was only about four and a half minutes long, but we controlled the play and lucky enough we got some good pressure and a pass up top and a screen shot and in it went,” Bodnarchuk said of Ramsay’s game-winner.
Okotoks was battle tested coming into the tournament.
“The group has had some interesting challenges through the course of the year, Bodnarchuk said.
“We play in a tough league and we often are up against tough teams. Going deep into a game like this we really tried to encourage the girls to live in the moment and have fun, believe in yourself, don’t second guess yourself, just go out and play and that they did.”
The Oilers finished sixth out of seven in the seven-team Rocky Mountain Female Hockey League and were eliminated in the first round of league playoffs. The provincial championship was the perfect way to cap off an at time difficult year for the club.
“Back in January we had a team building session of sorts and as a team and did establish some team goals and our biggest goal was to go to provincials and win provincials,” Bodnarchuk said. “It certainly was a fitting end to accomplish that.”
They weren’t the only Okotoks team in contention for a provincial banner.
The Bantam AA Okotoks Oilers were one goal away from advancing to the provincial final of the Minor AA tournament in Lacombe. Okotoks posted a 2-1 mark in round robin play with wins over the host Lacombe Tire Rockets and St. Albert Bears earning it a semifinal matchup with the Lloydminster Synergy. The teams skated to a 3-3 tie through regulation before Lloydminster’s Tristan Lofstrom netted the game winner just 1:28 into overtime, eliminating the Oilers from the tournament.
Elsewhere, the Okotoks Bantam A Oilers posted a 1-2 record at the Bantam A provincials in High Prairie and didn’t advance beyond the group stage. In the Bantam B provincials in Devon, the Okotoks Oilers posted a 0-2-1 mark and failed to qualify for the playoff round.
The Atom Tier 1 Okotoks Oilers advanced to the playoff round of the Atom AA provincials in Fort McMurray on the strength of a 2-1 record in the group stage. The Oilers were then dropped 11-2 by the high-powered Lethbridge Giants in the semifinal.
