COACH Blaine Kluss knew it was going to be good from the get-go when the Terrace boys U13 select team took to the field at the Slurpee Cup in Kamloops over the May long weekend.
“I knew our team was special when we scored in the first 10 seconds of game 1,” said Kluss of that first 4-2 win over a Campbell River squad.
With that victory in hand, the team went on to a 1-1 tie against an Edmonton team, a 4-0 victory over a team from Prince Albert and, in the final, a repeat win over St. Albert by a score of 2-0.
Jacob Heit and Logan Kluss led the scoring with five goals each over the tournament.
The team’s 11th goal was scored by Mark Pietralla.
The winning goal in the final was scored by Logan Kluss off a rebound, shot by Aidan Kluss.
Game stars, one per game, were Farren Devcic, Jacob Heit, Braden Clunas and Jack Mulder.
“Teamwork, teamwork, teamwork,” said Kluss of the tournament win.
“Two guys may have scored most of the goals but we win as a team!”
The win marked close to 15 years of Terrace teams making the annual trip south to Kamloops.
“The competition was good, always another level out there somewhere though!” said Kluss who added their competitors were well-coached and disciplined teams.
“We are somewhat isolated from seeing these types of teams due to the nature of living in the northwest. The need to travel constantly for games can be draining (especially on the wallet!)”
Next up for the team are zone championships June 10-11 in Quesnel in a bid to advance to the provincial championships in Vernon July 6-9.
In between there’s a tune up tournament on the Canada Day weekend in Kelowna.