Submitted by Randal Ostafichuk
Over the weekend of February 10th to 12th, Lumby’s Pat Duke Arena was host for the Lumby and District Minor Hockey Association U11 Monashee Classic Tournament. Teams from all over southern BC descended on Lumby with hopes of bringing home the gold. The Lumby Stars were in competition with the Golden Rockets, Kamloops Misfits, Merritt Junior Cents, Thompson Cariboo Warriors, Vernon Fire Hawks, West Kelowna Devils, and the Williams Lake Green Goblins.
Even though some were tired from travelling, everyone brought their “A” game, and it was an amazing weekend for players, coaches, parents, and spectators. Friday morning at 10am the Lumby Stars faced off against the West Kelowna Devils, and the grade 5 and 6 classes of JW Inglis Elementary came to fill the stands to cheer our players on. It was a good fight, but Lumby was beaten with a score of 9-6 for the Devils. Undeterred, Lumby went on to face the Kamloops Misfits on Saturday morning, and showed them what we are made of with a final score of 7-2 for Lumby. Later that day Lumby went up against the Golden Rockets, and were in a mood to win. With an 11-1 final score, the Lumby Stars had secured a place in the semi-finals. Lumby was paired up to face the Merritt Junior Cents, who had previously beaten the Williams Lake Green Goblins 5-4, The Vernon Fire Hawks 9-6, and the West Kelowna Devils 10-4.
The puck dropped at 8:00am Sunday morning to a packed house, and Lumby hit the scoreboard first less than two minutes into the game with #11 Haiden Smithson putting one in the back of the net. Merritt answered with two goals of their own before the end of the first period. With Merritt getting another two goals in the second, things were not looking good for the Lumby Stars, but with less than three minutes left in the period, #8 Lauchie LaRiviere squeaked one past the Merritt goalie to keep us alive. 51 seconds into the third period, # 18 Oliver Baines surprised the Merritt goalie with his skills and brought us to within a goal of being tied. Merritt got one past our goalie #30 Bentley Lane to show they weren’t going to let us win easily. Immediately after, #18 Oliver Baines repeated his previous goal to keep us going. The game went back and forth through the third period with Merritt getting one more, only to be answered seconds later by Lumby’s #11 Haiden Smithson.
With the clock ticking down, things were getting tense on the benches and in the stands. With six minutes left in the third, #21 Samuel Ostafichuk let a wrist shot go from near the blue line that found the five hole on the Merritt goalie and tied the game. The Stars fought bravely, never giving an inch to Merritt, and held them off with a tied score of 7-7 at the end of regulation play. A quick confidence builder from the coaches at each bench, and the overtime 5:00 period was underway. I am not sure if the game was more intense for the players on the ice, or for the parents in the stands as everyone was on the edge of their seats with every play. Parents were cheering for both goalies when amazing saves were made, and there were plenty. With what seemed like an eternity, the five minute overtime period came to an end with the game still tied 7-7. The game went to a shootout to see who would move on in the tournament. #3 Nixon Matchett, and #7 Graham Hanson both out maneuvered the Merritt goalie, but ultimately, Merritt managed to get four past #30 Bentley Lane to seal the deal.
With the exception of four minor penalties that Merritt got throughout the game, it was a very clean and very fast paced hockey that matched skills against skills. Even though this was not the game to win the gold, the boys and girls on the ice fought like it was. I have never been so invested in a minor hockey game the way I was watching this one. Two teams so evenly matched in skills, both playing good clean hockey, with an equal desire to win. Lumby should be proud of the effort put in by the Lumby Stars this past weekend, not only for the fact they came in third in the tournament, but also for the fact that they were amazing ambassadors for our community. Even though they were defeated by the Merritt Junior Cents, they showed nothing but class and sportsmanship in their defeat. Thank you to our coaches and support staff on the bench for bringing our kids up to this caliber, and teaching them the sportsmanship they displayed. Special thank you to all the volunteers who made this tournament possible, especially Emily Knezacek and Jennifer Clarke. Congratulations to Merritt who went on to win gold at the U11 Monashee Classic Tournament.
