Vibe earn share of first place

After playing their first two games of the regular season, the Kamloops Vibe are tied for first place in the South Coast Women’s Hockey League after Week 4.

The Vibe hosted the North Shore Rebels for two games, playing to a 1-1 tie Saturday night at McArthur Island, then edge their guests 2-1 Sunday morning at the Sandman Centre. Taking three of a possible four points, Kamloops has a winning percentage of .750, tied for top spot with the 2-0-2 (win-loss-tied) South Fraser TNT and the 3-1-0 Fraser Valley Jets.

(In the 2021-22 “Reset Season”, the Vibe will play only 20 games. All other SCWHL teams will play 24 games. The regular season standings will be determined by win percentage, not total points.)

Goaltenders Ashley Fisher of the Vibe and Kira Richardson of North Shore were both near unbeatable in Saturday’s contest in Kamloops. Richardson stopped 23 of 24 shots, and appeared to have North Shore on the verge of a victory, only to be beaten by Madeline Hubbard of the Vibe for a tying goal with 14 minutes to play.

Fisher turned aside 31 Rebels shots, conceding only a first period goal from North Shore’s Elexa Pakozdy.

In Sunday’s rematch, the two netminders kept the game scoreless until the third period. Cassidy Bell tallied once for North Shore, but her goal was sandwiched by a pair of Vibe scores. Brooklyn Crawford assisted on the first by Lisa Campeau which gave the Vibe a 1-0 lead. Crawford then netted the winning goal with seven minutes remaining, breaking a 1-1 tie.

The Fraser Valley Jets won their third consecutive game Sunday morning, defeating the Meadow Ridge Moose 2-0 at Planet Ice - Delta. Alannah Kedra opened the scoring with her fourth goal of the season in the first period, and Rachel McLaughlin added an insurance score in the third period. Stacy Wilson made 32 saves for her second shutout of the season.

The Moose were also held scoreless Friday night at the Langley Sportsplex, but managed a 0-0 tie with the South Fraser TNT. Netminder Megan Buchanan of the Moose made 27 saves, while Melinda Choy of the TNT blocked 24 shots. The two netminders were teammates with the Island Surge in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons.

The TNT completed their weekend Saturday night with a 9-1 win over the Richmond Devils at the Richmond Ice Centre.

Katrina Hawkins scored twice and added two assists to lead the TNT attack. Tiffany Chiu, Michelle Ziegler and Tracy Chang also had two goals each for South Fraser, with Shea Weighill netting one.

Ashley Specht notched the lone Richmond goal.