The Prince George U14 B Heat took the next step up on the podium to claim gold at the B.C. Ringette provincial championships Sunday.
Provincial silver medallists from a year ago, the Heat rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the third period to beat Shuswap from Salmon Arm 9-5 in the final at Kin 2 rink.
"This really was a team effort and we don't get down on each other," said Heat captain Martina Spooner who netted a hat trick in the final. "We stayed positive... a lot of our family came out to watch and we were nervous in the gold medal and we wanted to win it for our families. I'm so proud of our team
"From our very first practice and our first training session at the beginning of the year, our goal was to win gold. We took a big step this year and the team worked so hard. We knew hard work would pay off."
Down 3-1 early in the first period in Sunday's final, the Hart Modular Homes and All Rhodes Construction team from Prince George scored two goals to tie at 3-3 on tallies from Alexi Christieson and Ally Boyes.
After Shuswap made it 4-3, the two sides were playing 3-on-3 after a series of double off-setting minors in the last two minutes. Rebecca Landry scored the tying goal when she flipped the ring past Shuswap netminder with 7.7 seconds left.
Prince George didn't panic.
Spooner scored less than two minutes into the final frame and netminder Tashina Wilmot thwarted Shuswap's scoring chances, making save after save. Kiera Meroniuk scored a hat trick in the second period to give Prince George the cushion they needed.
"I knew we were going to win," said Wilmot afterwards.
Wilmot's confidence impressed Heat coach Keith Sullivan.
"She's made a big improvement from last year to this year," he said. "Mentally, she's so tough in net. She just put the team on her shoulders. They're a good bunch of kids, even with the three new players [Hannah McKinley, Sandie Ziemer and Savanna Roy], they fit in well."
Prince George advanced straight to Sunday's gold medal game after posting an undefeated 3-0-1 round-robin record.
Saturday they scorched Vernon 10-7 and Kelowna 8-3.
Meroniuk scored a hat trick while William de Dreu, Spooner, Alexa Mocilac, Ally Boyes, and Savanna Roy added single tallies in the win against Kelowna.
It's been quite the season for the Heat, who placed first in all the Northern League tournaments, brought home silver from Hinton in January and gold from the Sweetheart tournament in Kelowna in February.
"We've been playing together for the last nine years, we're a close bunch," said Spooner. "This team is like our family."
The provincial tourney wrapped up the season for Prince George.
Sullivan said three-quarters of the team will move up to the U16 level next year.
"In two years, we expect another banner," he said.
