The Prince Rupert midget rep Seawolves were in action this past weekend in Prince George at a tier 2 tournament.
The Seawolves faced a tough task in their first game, playing the Prince George midget rep team. “It was a hard hitting game. Drew Fudger scored our lone goal as he was hooked and hauled down on a breakaway, and was able to score the penalty shot,’ said head coach Rick Fudger on the weekend.
The Seawolves dropped the game 4-1, and looked to have a better result in their second game.
Unfortunately, this was not the case. The Seawolves were up against the Kelowna midget rep team. The score was lopsided, but for good reason.
Coach Fudger explained why. “The boys were exhausted, as we only had an hour and 45 minutes rest between games,” said Rick.
The final tally was 10-3 Kelowna. Drew Fudger buried one again, and Mitch Cook and Keenan Maragona added the other markers.
Game No. 3 of the tournament yielded a better result. The athletes were able to pull together and showed a ton of grit against a rival team that they play often, Kitimat.
Teryn Archer, Keiden Archer, Drew Fudger, and Jared Carter scored for the good guys.
But it wasn’t quite enough, as Kitimat proved to be resilient and the game ended tied 4-4 - still a good result for the team and definitely something to build upon as they continue the season.
Game No. 4 saw the Seawolves come out strong in the first period, gaining a 3-1 lead thanks to goals from Tyler Matalone, Mitch Cook and Brett Fudger (second-year bantam player).
The team came out slow in the second period and Smithers capitalized, scoring five unanswered goals. The game finished 6-3 for Smithers.
The final match up of the tournament for the athletes was against Kitimat. This time the scoreline was different. Two goals from Drew Fudger, then single markers from Manreet Deol, Keiden Archer, and Mitch Cook, put the Seawolves ahead for good, and the game concluded 5-1 for Rupert - a great way to finish the tournament.
A good time was had by all at the event.
Fast play, hard hits and organized breakouts were a common theme for the athletes during the games.
This bodes well for the development of the players who will stick with the team next year, as well as the bantam players that were called up.
The midget rep team won’t be back in action until the new year, when they take on rival Smithers on Jan. 16 and 17.