P.G. players skate to inline gold

A group of British Columbia boys came together at just the right time last weekend to win the Canada West Cup in inline roller hockey.

Team B.C., with seven players from Prince George, were invited to the tournament at Millennium Place in Sherwood Park, Alta., where they posted a 4-1 record to skate away with the trophy.

The four-team tournament included two teams from Alberta, Edmonton Red and Edmonton Blue, and a team from Saskatchewan.

Team B.C. avenged a 6-4 loss to Saskatchewan in their second game of the July 4-7 tournament when the two teams faced each other again in the championship final with B.C. coming out ahead 10-7.

B.C. coach Lance Truefitt said the final was one of the roughest inline hockey games he's ever coached but his 15 and under boys team held their composure.

"We played better defensively in the final then we did in the first game with Saskatchewan, our offence was clicking and we were rewarded with a lot of shots," said Truefitt. "Rock solid disciplined play by the whole team was the winning factor."

In the final, Mitchell Truefitt notched four goals, all set up by Austin Gray. Chris Metcalfe had two goals and two helpers, as did Victoria's Cory Hatcher, while defencemen Treavor Gagne and Victoria's Brandon Wilson both had a goal.

All nine players on Team B.C. were born in 1997, except goalie Devyn Wasylyshen who is a year younger.

Trufitt had 12 goals for B.C. in the tournament and Hatcher led the team with 13, while Gray and Metcalfe each chipped in with eight.

The games against the Edmonton teams weren't as close as the battles with Saskatchewan. B.C. won their opening game 13-4 over Edmonton Red and then beat Edmonton Blue twice, 14-4 in the final round-robin game and 13-5 in the semifinal.

Other members of Team B.C. were defencemen Jordan Waterston and Markus Plamondon.