The Kootenays were well-represented at the 2013 Female U16 Cup held in Duncan this past weekend.
The teams were selected from the various zone camps held across B.C. at the beginning of January, 2013. Two teams were chosen from the Lower Mainland (Green and Blue) and one team each from the North, Kootenay, Okanagan and Vancouver Island zones.
Nelson’s Merissa Dawson was one of the West Kootenay Bantam Wildcats players to make the trip.
"The U16 was awesome," said Wildcats team manager Lori Dawson in a text message to the Castlegar News. "Our Kootenay girls did really well."
The Kootenay team lost their first game against the North 3-1, in a closer game than the score would seem to indicate, after an empty net goal. Merissa Dawson was the goal-scorer for the team with a shot from the point. The second game against Vancouver Island was a tougher match as the Kootenay team fell 6-0.
Lori Dawson described their next game against Okanagan as "thrilling." The Kootenay team was outshot, but Kaslo goaltender Catalina Hartland braved the onslaught keeping the team in the game.
"We were losing 2-0," said Dawson. "Merissa scored a goal on the power play from [Nakusp’s] Hailey Herridge and the girls kept working hard."
Kootenay tied the game in the last six seconds with a goal from Tyler Carver assisted by Lindsay Weech and Dawson. They pulled the goalie in the final stages, and were also on a power play, but the game went to a shoot out.
Lindsay Weech, Tyler Carver and Kennedy Sterzer scored in the shoot out to clinch the win.
Their next game, against the Lower Mainland Green team would have seen them in playing for first or second, but they lost in another shoot out.
The final game against the Lower Mainland Blue team saw the Kootenay team was a 5-1 loss and the Kootenay team finished fourth in the event.