The combined Whistler-麻豆社国产midget rep team is now provincial tier three champs.
After starting the tournament with a tough loss, the team, which plays under the Whistler Winterhawks banner, rebounded throughout the week to earn a berth in the final game against the host Sunshine Coast team.
In what turned out to be a tug-o-war final on Thursday, the team jumped out to a 1-0 lead before Sunshine Coast caught up.
The Winterhawks took another lead, but the host team managed to tie it up again late in the game. As the clock was close to expiring, the team took advantage of a broken play in the neutral zone and Finn Withey responded by scoring with 29 seconds left.
鈥淭hat was ultimately the game-winning goal,鈥� head coach Mike Borrelli said.
All year, the team only lost five games, and its confidence grew from the regular season to a big tournament win in Kelowna to the playoffs, so it was ready by the provincials, especially as it had already faced three of the other nine teams.
鈥淲e always thought we had a chance of winning the tournament,鈥� Borrelli said.
The team is made up of players from Whistler and Squamish, with Borrelli as head coach, assisted by Tim Knight, with help from trainer Mike Kelso, Mike Hedberg, who handles safety, and team manager Devon Brusse. Borrelli also said that the parents鈥� support was important for the team.
The team even found some unexpected fans among the Australian staff working at the hotel where it stayed, who showed up for the semi-final game against Smithers.
鈥淭hey weren鈥檛 cheering, they were chanting,鈥� Borrelli said.
It the provincials ended on the highest note for the Winterhawks, it started on a sour one, as the team dropped a 9-6 loss to Coquitlam, whom it had beaten in the tier three regional final four held in 麻豆社国产only weeks before. Borrelli said the 7 a.m. game, which kicked off the provincials on March 13, was the team鈥檚 worst one of the year.
鈥淥ur worst turned into their best,鈥� he added. 鈥淚t was definitely our worst game. They took advantage of that.鈥�
The turning point, according to Borrelli, came in the second game against Alberni Valley. Despite outplaying the opposition, the team found itself trailing 3-1, and what came close to being a disallowed goal for Whistler ended up cutting the deficit. In the end the team pulled out a 3-3 tie, which at least allowed the team to keep the dream of a banner alive, though the margin of error had disappeared.
鈥淚t was win or go home,鈥� Borrelli said. 鈥淲e had to win out the rest of the tournament.鈥�
The team rattled off a 6-2 win over Whitehorse, beat Trail 11-0 and bested Smithers 4-2 in the semi-finals, leading to the showdown with the rival Sunshine Coast team.
While Borrelli said certain players came through with strong performances, such as Withey, Cody Flann, Xavier Cadoret and Owen Reith and especially goaltender Nevin Sandhu, the team鈥檚 success was not about one player.
鈥淭he motto the entire week when we were there was that hard works pays off,鈥� he said.聽 鈥淭he mentality wasn鈥檛 me, me, me, but it was we, we as a group.鈥�
