The Team BC Thunder ball hockey team won a bronze medal on the weekend in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont. in the U17 junior national championships.
The Thunder rolled through the round-robin, beating the host Ontario club 7-1, Newfoundland 3-0 and Alberta 7-0.
In their first playoff game they ran into a hot goalie and lost 3-0, but two of those goals were into an empty net.
The loss put them into the bronze medal game against Newfoundland. B.C. easily handled them and won the bronze medal with a 5-0 shutout win.
BC received stellar goaltending, as Mateo Petrelli of Maple Ridge was part of a goaltending tandem that allowed just four goals against, including two empty net goals. Other players from the Ridge Meadows Minor Ball Hockey Association also contributed. Shutting down the opposition on defence were Marcus Kot and Rhys Caverly. Providing the offence was Damian Richards, Jamie Dimetrivic and Brennen Hamel, with Richards winning the tournament scoring title. Head coach was Dave Weloy and assistants Trevor Elliot and Mark Fraser.
Gold was won by the Edmonton Xtreme and silver by the New Tecumseth Xtreme.