The OMAHA U11 and U18 Female Recreational Playoffs were co-hosted by the Lumby Stars U11 Female team and our U18 team this past weekend. The U11 team had a stellar performance in the round robin, defeating Penticton 14-0, Kelowna 3-1, and Kamloops 12-0. The top scorers for Lumby were Arya Church, Dani Fehr, Brynn Thompson, and Hannah Sears. Lumby advanced to the semi-finals along with Salmon Arm and Vernon, who also had perfect records. The tie breaker rules determined that Lumby would face Vernon on Sunday.
The semi-final game was a nail-biter against the Vernon Laker. Lumby got on the board with a crisp pass from Arya Church from deep in the zone to Dani Fehr who launched a rocket from the blueline past the Vernon goalie. The second goal came from a centering pass by Ayvah Hazell to Church who was waiting in front of the net. Lumby held the lead till 4:06 left in the third period when Vernon got two quick goals to tie the game up. 1st overtime was 5 minutes of 4 on 4, with lots of puck movement back and forth. 2nd overtime was 5 minutes of 3 on 3 to no avail. The third overtime period was just as exciting, when Fehr skated deep into the zone, passing to Thompson who scored the game winning goal; allowing the girls to move onto the Championship game against Salmon Arm.
After the thrilling semi-final match the girls watched our U18 Stars win the playoff finals. Our Lumby Stars faced the Salmon Arm Silverhawks, the league champions, in a fierce and fair game for the banner. Church received a great cross ice pass from Fehr who put the puck in the back of the net late in the 2nd period. Salmon Arm answered late in the 3rd period with 3:51 left to tie the game up! Back to overtime for these girls. Five minutes of 4 on 4 with the goalies standing on their heads, another 5 minutes of 3 on 3 overtime with no goals. Heading into the third overtime for the second time today, Sarah Ladd took the puck end to end, getting the right bounce off the goalie pad for the game winner! The Lumby Stars winning the U11 Female Recreation Playoff Championships. Our goalies Harlow Hopkins and Jovi Fehr were awesome this weekend, making some unbelievable saves!
It has been a remarkable season for these girls! They achieved three gold medals in tournaments, a second place in our league, and a glorious playoff victory! Our team is very grateful to our excellent Head Coach – Chris Church and the rest of the coaches – Geoff Bevan, Randy Hazell, Curt Bisbing, and Clifton Stone for their leadership, motivation, and confidence in the girls. The manager Fiawna Ladd for all the behind-the-scenes coordination. The team sponsor – Moving Mountains Earthworks – Karl and Kristine Blain, who were not only generous with their money but also with their support whenever they could attend the games – you are amazing! To all the businesses that helped us with fundraising and our supporting our tournament – Rusty Spur Farm & Pet, Jitter Beans Coffee House, On Side Restoration, Nature’s Fare Vernon, J Dwan Trucking, Okanagan Beverage Co, Graphic Enterprises Signs & Designs Ltd, Hwy 6 Mini Storage, Sun-Rype Products, Sun Valley Source for Sports and the Vernon Vipers. Thank you to our community for supporting us, buying 50/50 tickets and cheering for us all season long! To the parents and families of our team – you are the best! Without you, the girls wouldn’t have achieved what we did! We know we gave you some nerve-wracking moments with the last two games of the season, but we hope everyone had as much fun as the girls did! We are so proud of each and every one of our girls, they rose to the occasion, had a great time off the ice and ended the season on a positive note. Enjoy the win – you earned it!
