It's been a busy few weeks for the U11 Cowichan Thunder. In 15 days, from May 11 through May 25, the team, made up of eight-, nine- and 10-year-olds powered their way through an intense schedule that included nine games and three practices.
The weekend of May 23-25, the Thunder played four games in a Travis Bateman Memorial U11 tournament at Juan de Fuca, where the team gained valuable experience.
MVPs over the four games included Levi Wong (2), Mateo Janzen, and Everett Degagne while the Loose Ball Lunatic awards were given to Eli Frenchy-Thorne, Aven Mann, Emma Spooner and Ryker Gowanlock.
It had been a busy time ahead of the tournament.
After games on May 11, May 13, and May 15, the Thunder met Peninsula on May 18 for the most exciting game Cowichan has played all season. It went down to the final minute with Peninsula coming out on top by a 10-9 score.
Wong earned the Player of the Game nod for his efforts while Emmy Rothbauer threw her weight around on defence to earn Loose Ball Lunatic honours.
The team had no time to rest because the following day they met the league's top team in Saanich 2.
Emma Spooner was a force for the Thunder despite playing on a sore ankle, and earned Player of the Game award while Shae McNeil worked his tail off to take the Loose Ball Lunatic accolade.
The Thunder now look to plow ahead with the last third of their season with three regular-season games and one tournament left.
U13
With the bulk of their schedule in the rear-view mirror, the U13 Thunder bested Alberni Valley 8-7 on their own floor on May 17. Logan Lodge was the game MVP.
On May 18, the team played host to Nanaimo B2 and lost 6-4. Jack Graham was the team's MVP.
The U13 team has one more league game left for the season, on May 31 at Kerry Park Arena against Nanaimo B1.
U17
The U17 Cowichan Thunder got off the Island to play at the Richmond Road Runner Spring Classic May 16-19.
In their first game, Cowichan fell 10-7 to Peninsula with Cole van Deventer earning the tournament's Game MVP title and Nelson Sylvester the team's MVP.
Cowichan picked up a 12-6 victory against Burnaby in their second game of the tournament. Sylvester got the tournament's Game MVP nod while Jack Flynn was picked by his team as their MVP.
A late-night showdown at the Richmond Road Runner Spring Classic had Cowichan falling 7-4 to Langley/Surrey. The tournament's Game MVP award was given to Maddisyn Solecki while the team selected Colton Haywood as their MVP.
In the final game of the tournament, Game MVP Griffin Brooks and Team MVP Seamus Rourke led the U17 Thunder to a 7-5 victory over Vancouver.
The Thunder finished the tournament with a 2-2 record to finish fifth overall.
Up next for the U17 Thunder is an away game at Juan de Fuca.
Jr. B
After rattling off three wins in three nights, the Jr. B Cowichan Thunder dropped their second game of the season to the Saanich Express on May 9 at Panorama Arena and then tied the Campbell River Ravens 10-10 on May 17 at Kerry Park Arena.
Joel Perret was the Player of the Game against Saanich and Annika MacDonald earned the same honour against Campbell River.
The Thunder held a 9-5 lead in the second period but couldn't hang on for the win.
Addison Urquhart led the team in scoring with three goals and five assists for eight points while Easton Jubenville was right on his tail with a hat-trick of his own to go with three assists for six points on the night.
Nate Akhurst also scored thrice, and he added an assist to make it a four-point night, and Jake Norman got one goal for Cowichan.
Josh MacDonald (3), Rees Aebischer (3), and Jackson Sampare all earned assists.
On May 25, the Thunder beat the Nanaimo Timbermen 11-6 in Nanaimo with Akhurst popping off for seven goals and three helpers for 10 total points. Jubenville has two goals and three assists for a five-point night while Aebischer and Owen Papineau had the other goals.
Second to only the Saanich Express in the league standings, the Jr. B Thunder play Friday, May 30 in Saanich against the Express.
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