Jayden Malgunas was still savouring the sweet taste of victory almost 24 hours after the Prince George WIC Bantam Female Cougars were crowned provincial champions.
""Everybody was crying, hugging and freaking out," said the Cougars' captain about the reaction of her teammates when the final buzzer went Wednesday in Victoria in the girls' 4-1 win.
The Cougars finished the tournament with a perfect 5-0 record and had a 35-6-3 overall record this season. The majority of the girls on the Cougars' team have played together for the past four seasons under coaches Don Knoop and Stew Malgunas.
In addition to their success with the Cougars, captain Malgunas and eight of her teammates earned spots on the under-16 girls team that competed at the B.C. Winter Games in Vernon in February.
Malgunas said being the best bantam girls' team in British Columbia makes all the hard work and 5 a.m. practices worth it.
"We all worked hard all year and endured all the early morning practices and games," said the 14 year old. "We all play for each other and worked together."
In the final the Cougars beat the Terrace Kermodes in the provincial final, exacting a bit of revenge on the team that defeated them at their home tournament in Prince George this season.
"We were so happy to beat them this time," said Malgunas.
Ava Keis, Megan Hickey, Kiana Wilkinson and Madison Fjellstrom had the goals for the Cougers in the final, while Bailey Kasum replied for the Kermodes. Prince George opened up a 3-0 lead after the first period by changing their game plan against the Kermodes' and their all-star goaltender.
"Instead of taking 50 shots from outside the girls took everything to the net, set up screens and looked for rebounds," said Knoop.
He said the success the Cougars had this season was the product of a lot of hard work from everyone, including his fellow coach Malgunas and team manager Scott Forrest.
"It's a fantastic feeling that the players, the coaches, the staff and the parents all worked very hard to put the girls in the position to compete at the provincial championship."
"It gives me great satisfaction to watch all the girls develop and contribute to this team," said Knoop, who plans to retire from coaching after spending the past four years building towards the provincial title. "The development of the players and the team has been unbelievable. It's all about team for everyone involved."
