Five Maple Ridge players were part of a team that came second at a spring hockey tournament in Burnaby last weekend.
Damian Richards, Devon Taylor, Dallas Teichrob, Sean McClosky and Jeffrey Sunshine played for the Fraser Valley Royals, which went 5-0 en route to making the peewee division final of Quest for the Cup.
The Royals defeated the 99 Cascades 6-2, the 2000 Surrey Heat 15-0, the 99 Young Guns 6-4, and the 99 Pacific Knights 6-0, then downed the 99 Fraser Valley Prospects 5-2 in the semi-finals.
The Royals, however, fell to the 99 West Coast All-stars 9-3 in the cup game.
Sunshine made some key saves in the first 10 minutes of the final to keep the game from breaking open and stopped 40 shots overall. The Royals were only down 4-3 after the second period, but were worn down by the size and strength of the Prospects in the third.
Taylor led the local players with five goals and an assist at the tournament, including the team’s first marker in the final.
Richards finished with two goals and two assists. McClosky and Teichrob both picked up assists.
“This was a hard fought tournament for a 2000 team that had only practiced together for two weeks prior to the tournament and was facing some very good teams from the 1999 age grouping,” said Royals coach Troy Stordy.
The team was comprised of players from Maple Ridge, Mission, Aldergrove, Surrey and Abbotsford.