The peewee female Cowichan Valley Thunder are headed to the provincial lacrosse championships after dispatching the Nanaimo Timbermen two games to one in the best-of-three Island semifinal series.
After losing the first game in Nanaimo last Friday by a narrow 5-4 score, Cowichan bounced back to prevail 3-1 at the Island Savings Centre on Saturday, then trounced the T-Men 7-1 back on their home turf on Wednesday evening.
The team has come a long way this season by learning from stronger opponents in the early going — opponents they would go on to beat as the year went on.
“The success of the team, we attribute that to the strong players and teams that we played throughout the season,” head coach Naomi Walser said. “We were getting smoked in the beginning, and learning from them was the only way we could get stronger. We didn’t win many games, but we are going to provincials because the girls were able to rise to the occasion and compete with teams to become unstoppable.”
After the setback in the opening game, the Thunder stormed back in their home arena. Camryn Waldron opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal in the first period, Molly Shea scored the eventual game-winner in the second, and captain Bria Grounds added some insurance early in the final frame. Anikka MacDonald was rock-solid in the Cowichan net.
The Thunder were on a mission on Wednesday, and got off to an excellent start thanks to first-period goals by Braith Williams and Grounds. The teams traded markers in the second, as Williams potted her second in the early going and Nanaimo replied midway through the frame. The third period was all Cowichan, as Grounds and Williams both completed hat tricks and Breann Findlater also got on the board.
The Thunder will face Peninsula early next week in a one-game showdown for the Island banner, then head to the Mainland for Provincials.