B.C. girls showed where the best box lacrosse is played in Canada.
The junior and midget provincial girls’ teams both won gold medals, while the B.C. bantam girls claimed a silver medal at the Female National Championships in Calgary last week.
The junior girls, including New Westminster’s Christel Blesch, Mary McQueen, Gabrielle Jones and Amber Haley and Burnaby’s Amanda Jackson, were a perfect 7-0 at the championship tournament, following a 6-4 victory over Ontario in the gold-medal final on Saturday.
“Coming into the tournament, playing a physical game kind of held us back. But we can find the net,” said McQueen, who shared earlier silver medals with B.C. at earlier bantam and midget nationals, including the first bantam team in 2009. “It was very intense.”
Ellie Delich garnered eight goals and five assists over seven games at the nationals, including two goals and two assists in the championship final. Jones, who had a total of eight points at the championships, helped out with one of her seven assists on the gold-medal-winning goal by Kathryn Harvey of Port Moody.
Blesch tallied a pair of goals in a three-point outing in B.C.’s 6-2 semifinal win over Alberta on Friday. McQueen chipped in with a single goal and a helper.
Both Salmonbellie runners finished the seven-game tournament with identical six-goal, 10-point performances.
“We just wanted to come out and do it for the bantams. We just knew it was going to be hard fought, so we just fought hard till the end,” McQueen said in reference to the first-year’s heartbreaking loss in double overtime on an untimely penalty shot call.
The junior girls knocked off Ontario twice in the four-team tourney 9-3 and 10-5.
Delich led B.C. with a pair of goals in the opening five-goal win over Ontario, while Jones and McQueen both had three-point games. Blesch contributed a goal and an assist. Jackson also registered a point.
The midget girls also finished with a golden 7-0 record at the nationals.
B.C. edged Alberta in the midget championship final 4-3 on a late third-period goal by Nicole Pahnke of Ridge Meadows on July 25.
A day earlier, Port Coquitlam’s Haley Mcrae got the game winner over Alberta in the final period in a 5-4 nailbiter to end the round robin.
Keeley O’Neill of New Westminster finished the national tournament with four goals and four assists. New West’s Graceyn Dean had five tournament points, including a pair of goals, for B.C.
The B.C. girls also defeated Ontario in both meetings at the nationals, winning 5-3 and 6-2, in the team’s opening game on July 21.
In the bantam division, the B.C. girls’ team of New Westminster’s Hannah-Lise Bernoe, Meagan Black, Jen Hannay, Erica Malcom, Sophie Morris and goalie Jenna Phillips shared the silver medal with Nicole Kuhn of Burnaby following a 4-3 double-overtime loss to Ontario.
Malcom had a goal and two assists in the championship final, while Hannay chipped in with one tally and a helper. Bernoe also potted a goal for B.C.
The girls split their preliminary games with Ontario, losing 3-1 on July 23 after opening the nationals with a 4-1 victory over the eventual champions.
B.C. also eked out an earlier 4-3 win over Alberta on July 22.
Morris set up PoCo’s Danielle Stroup for the game winner in double OT. Kuhn also scored a goal in the contest, while B.C. point leaders Malcom and Bernoe assisted on two and one tally, respectively.
Bernoe topped B.C. in team scoring with three goals and 10 points, while Malcom finished the competition tied with 10 points, including a pair of markers. Kuhn registered two goals and three assists for Team B.C. Phillips finished the nationals with a 1.75 goals against average through four games.
