News

As the Wenatchee Wild Development Team programs head to Christmas break, the process of winding down the schedule before the holidays has been a particularly busy one, especially for the Wilderness 16U squad. While all four teams have been in action over the past two weeks, the 16U team has spent time at both a Canadian Sport School Hockey League showcase in Abbotsford, British Columbia and a home-and-home with the Northwest Stars 16U team in the Pacific Northwest Amateur Hockey Association state tournament.

The Wilderness 16U group went 1-2 on its weekend in Abbotsford, defeating the Rink Academy U17 team 4-3 on Friday, December 9 behind two goals from Isaiah Van Zandt. Matthew Stoddard put the game out of reach with 1:17 remaining, though Tyce Wood trimmed the lead back to a single goal with 35 seconds left. The Pacific Coast Hockey Academy needed four third-period goals to notch the 5-3 win on Saturday, and Max Workman notched the lone goal Sunday in a 7-1 loss to the Delta Hockey Academy U17 prep team.

Two matchups on Tuesday and Thursday saw the 16U group punch its ticket to the USA Hockey Pacific District tournament in February in San Jose, California, knocking off the Northwest Stars 3-2 in overtime last Tuesday before shutting them down 3-0 last Thursday in Seattle to advance.

The 18U group will play a decisive third game in the series in the new year, losing 3-1 last Tuesday in Wenatchee before bouncing back to a resounding 8-3 victory last Thursday on the Stars' home ice. The date of the third game to decide the PNAHA's entrant into the tournament has not been announced.

The 14U Wolverines and 12U team faced the Northwest Stars as well this past weekend, with the Wenatchee groups coming out on top in all four games. The 14U team earned 5-2 and 5-1 wins on Saturday, running its unbeaten streak to a dozen games.

"Dominant play continued our win streak in addition to waves of individual success, and that was a great finale going into holiday break," said 12U and 14U coaches Tysen and Aaron Azevedo. "Back-to-back five-goal performances were enough to have weekend success, but the team excellence was left on the table. Controlling the start without a purpose left the Stars the ability to hang around in both games before being broken open in the second period."

The 12U team charged even harder on the offensive end, racking up 7-1 and 7-5 victories in Saturday's action. 

"Continuing the momentum from Vancouver, our team played fast and hungry all over the ice, taking control of the first game," said Azevedo. "Game two did not yield the performance we expected - a confident feeling gave time and space, which Seattle Junior capitalized on."

The 14U team will return to action the week after Christmas at the Pat Quinn Classic, playing a minimum of five games in the tournament in Burnaby, British Columbia, while the 16U Wilderness will play at the Okanagan Classic in Kelowna.