The Estevan Sharks Under-14 (U14) National Championship League (NCL) teams travelled to Regina this past weekend for more matchups on the road to the Canadian Finals in Calgary in May.
This past month has been a busy one for all of the Sharks players that have joined the Prairie League within the 14U NCL. During this weekend of play, the Estevan Sharks boys have now secured their spot in the Western Canada Finals, which will be held May 10-12.
The boys played six games this weekend in Regina. All games during the weekend showed great teamwork, especially the final game on Sunday morning where the Sharks faced off against the Regina Armada A team.
The Sharks dove in with a new strategy, as up until now they could not overcome this team and had lost 8-6 and 10-9 in the previous two days. So coaches Dave Dzeryk and Jason Dalziel went in playing off up the right side of the pool.
Up until this game, Tristan Threinen and Ethan Elliot were being heavily guarded by the Armada team, so for this game the strategy was to not use them for offence and switch up the lines.
This confused the Armada team and the Sharks had a 6-5 lead at half time. Continuing on this strategy left Lucas Dzeryk and Logan Dalziel fairly unguarded and moving into an offensive play these two scored four and three goals, respectively. Noah Mvula, Dierks Milford, Nathan Threinen and Jace Carritt all did a good job playing a defensive game and Lyndon Sauder in net held the Armada sharp shooters off as best he could.
The Armada had two quick breakaways in the last quarter and they took over the lead and won 11-9.
The Sharks also played the Regina Armada B team and won over them in matches that consisted of scores of 10-8, 15-4 and 13-11. At the end of the weekend, the Sharks have a 7-3 record and that will earn them a spot going into the Western finals.
The boys do have two more games to complete this series but based on their current standings they will advance to Calgary.
The girls team faced both of the very strong Regina Armada teams in a total of five games. They started the weekend off with a huge win over the previously undefeated Armada 2 team 12-9. Jordyn Tarnes found the back of the net five times in that game. This was the girls’ only win of the weekend, but they fought hard and improved throughout the weekend.
The next round of play for the Sharks in the Prairie League will be March 30-31, when they travel to Saskatoon to finish up their series.
Also, the Team Sask. 19U men and women’s teams both finished first in the inter-conference crossover tournament in Calgary over the weekend. This secures their spots at nationals in Calgary in May. Four players from the Estevan Sharks water polo club are on the 19U women’s team: 16U players Mikayla Hack, Josie Andrist and Alex Andrist and former Shark Teagan Hack represented the club in three days of games.
Team Sask. faced opponents from Calgary, Edmonton, and two from British Columbia. The women won five of six games.
