The Kootenay Wildcats had a “super weekend” as they hosted all four teams from the female Midget ‘AAA’ league to kick off their season.
The Fraser Valley Phantom, Vancouver Fusion, Thompson-Okanagan Rockets and Prince George Cougars all traveled to Nelson on the weekend to play each other at the Nelson Community Complex.
The Wildcats split their four-games series winning two and losing two.
“We have a lot of younger players, that have tons of talent they just have to get use to the pace of play,” said coach Cary Fisher. “I think we can stack up against anyone in the league.”
The team, made up of 15-17 year-olds, came second in the province last year, losing the third game of a three-game series final by one goal.
The Wildcats lost their first match 5-1 to the Rockets but came out with a much better effort against Vancouver, downing the Fusion 5-4 Saturday.
Kootenay’s Kathryn Haededorn picked up four points with two goals and two assists, while Shea Weighill added a goal and two assists.
The team has a good core of veterans returning this year such as Captain Katie Yuris and Christina Bonacci from Trail and Shea Weighill from Nakusp.
“Katie provides a lot of stability up front and Shea’s a pretty gifted player and can definitely do some things with the puck that would make a lot of guys envious,” said Fisher.
The Wildcats dropped their third game to Fraser Valley before doubling up the Cougars 4-2. Bonacci led the team with two goals in the game.
While he is optimistic, Fisher recognizes that it will take time for the team to gel.
“We’ve got six months to get the team to work together consistently. The talent’s all there, it just depends how the run goes.”
The Wildcats play Fusion this weekend in Vancouver.