The U11 Stars Integrated – Team Turnbull were flawless this weekend in Kelowna’s 16 team Battle in the Valley Tournament. They were undefeated in round-robin play eking out West Kelowna (2) 7-5 on Friday, taking down Kelowna (7) 7-1 Saturday morning, and ending the day off with a 7-2 win over Kelowna (1). Sunday morning was a rematch from a previous tournament against Kelowna (5) where Lumby lost 5-0 in the bronze medal game. This time it was Lumby’s turn, narrowly winning 3-2 in a 60 minute grind. In the gold medal game, we started off a bit slow, being down 3-1 after the first period. But the team rallied and fed off each other’s energy. Gloves and sticks went flying as the players counted down with the clock in a 7-5 win and were crowned tournament champions.
Every game was won with an entire team effort. Alternate Captain Kingston Clarke was a defensive phenom ending countless odd-player rushes and even potting a few silky end-to-end goals. Dani Fehr and Sarah Ladd had the opponents spinning in circles on the blue line with their snappy D-to-D passing and laser beams hitting the target on opposing goalies. Fresh off the plane from Mexico Novak Kentel deked through half the team and potted an amazing goal in the semi-final game. Landon Lavallee consistently scored clutch goals as the clock would wear down. Maddox McGloin was all hustle and a force in front of the net, capturing his own rebound and throwing a back-hand into a wide-open net. Captain Nixon Matchett and Alternate Captain Ryker Maxwell had a TSN highlight of the Night tic-tac-toe play that will be talked about for years to come. Goaltenders Jovi Fehr and Mack Dekker were literal walls between the pipes each taking home a well-deserved MVP award and keeping us in every game.
The passing was crisp, the goals were exciting, the team play was exemplary, and the crowd kept the kids pumped up throughout the weekend.
Thank you to the players, parents, volunteers, the most amazing team manager ever, and to our sponsor the Lumby Community Thrift Store for helping make this team a team!
