A 琉璃神社 team came out on top against British Columbia鈥檚 best minor hockey teams this week.

B.C. Hockey鈥檚 U18 Tier 1 provincial championships were held Monday through Thursday, March 18-21, at the Nanaimo Ice Centre, bringing together eight teams from around the province for pool play and playoffs.

琉璃神社鈥檚 Okanagan Mainline Amateur Hockey Association Rockets are this year鈥檚 provincial champs, as they went undefeated at the tourney, ending with a 6-2 victory over Fort St. John鈥檚 North East Trackers in the gold-medal game.

The final was the second game of the day for both teams, which factored into game-planning.

鈥淲e knew that if we just kept skating hard we could probably tire them out a bit in the third and I think a little bit of that happened,鈥� said Tim Nikolai, coach of the Rockets.

He said his team got some good bounces, but earned those bounces with their skating.

Brogan Wood, Rockets captain, said it was hard to describe the feeling when the final buzzer sounded.

鈥淚t made it all worth it 鈥� we worked so hard the whole year,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t was really enjoyable and a lot of happy feelings.鈥�

The coach said the players showed a lot of buy-in all season long and listened and learned.

鈥淓verything that we tried to implement, they would listen and they would do it. It鈥檚 a really cohesive group that way,鈥� Nikolai said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really fun group to coach 鈥� I tell them that all the time.鈥�

Wood said this year鈥檚 Rockets team had a lot of chemistry, helped by having a core of players returning from the previous season.

鈥淲e鈥檝e got a really good group of boys here and we were motivated to get the job done鈥︹�� he said. 鈥淥ur commitment to the team allowed us to get the gold medal.鈥�

In the final, Christopher Kilduff led the Rockets with two goals, and Wyatt Fuhrmann, Ryder Kinjerski-Nielsen, Jayden Mackie and Dylan Toews also scored. Matthew Sowinski was the winning goalie. For the Trackers, Mason McGinnis and Brody Mickey scored.

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