The Ridge Meadows Giants won gold in the Minor Pacific Division at the provincial ball hockey championships with a 2-1 win over the Surrey Chaos.
Dominik Mroz scored both goals for the Giants on breakaways. Mason Allen had two assists for the local ages 13-14 team. Will Thomas also had an assist.
The Giants opened provincial round-robin play with a 10-3 win over Tri-Cities Black Lightning, then downed Richmond 6-0.
They defeated Metro 4-1 in the semi-finals.
The Giants went undefeated in 16 regular-season games and won their league playoff title, including a 3-0 victory over the Knights in the final. Thomas scored twice in that game, with assists from Matthias Campos and Elias Campos. Cole Simoneau also scored.
Giants players include Will Babstock, Mikkel Fremmerlid, Tomas Hill, Landon Lovig, Seth McConville, Brayden Reed, Cole Simoneau, Nick Squeo, Dylan Tory, Ryan Tsen and Josh Warhurst. Jeff Allen and Dave Thomas coached the team. Michelle Thomas was team manager.
A team official credited the coaches and extra effort for the successful season.
“They held a number of outdoor conditioning practices and fun events prior to and during the season that really helped their endurance as players were able to outlast many of their opponents. It also bonded them as a team before they even stepped on the floor for their first game.”
Earthquakes win pee wee title
The Ridge Meadows Earthquakes, with shut-down goaltending and clad-tight defense, defeated the Surrey Stealth 4-1 in the championship final of the B.C. pee wee ball hockey championships, July 3 in Port Moody.
The same group of players also won provincial titles in 2013 and 2014, as well as divisional wins those years and in 2012.
The Earthquakes went undefeated through the divisional playoffs this year.
After opening the provincials with a tie against Surrey, Ridge defeated host Metro and Richmond.
The Earthquakes then earned a 3-1 win over Valley in the semi-finals.
The team, coached by Jayson Shalist, Jason Osborne and Peter DeSantis, tallied 18 times at the provincials.
“The team represented Ridge Meadows with sportsmanship, leadership, and humility,” said a team official.
