skip navigation

Wild 19U Rep Regular Season Wrap-Up & League Title!

By Zoe M. Harris , 01/31/13, 11:00AM PST

Share

Heading into 2013, the Washington Wild held sole possession of first place in the PCAHA Flight 1. However, the Canadian teams would not allow league dominance to go uncontested when the Wild lost to the Tri-Cities Predators in the finals of the Angels on Ice holiday tournament. The opening weekend of 2013 saw the Wild visiting two of the stronger Canadian teams, Surrey and Tri-Cities, on back-to-back nights.

The first game on Friday, January 4th was against Surrey. Every contest between these two teams, both tiering and regular season, had been won by the home team, so the Wild had their work cut out for them. While a well-played and tightly contested game, the Wild came out on the short end, 2 – 1, when all was said and done. This outcome represented the first time this season the Wild had lost back-to-back games against their PCAHA Flight 1 opponents; thus, they had something to prove the following night in Tri-Cities.

Luckily, the Saturday, January 5th game’s start was moved from 9:00 pm to 8:00 pm. As with the previous two games, this match was tightly contested from the start. However, the Wild emerged with a little more hustle in their game and earned a 1 – 0 lead. Later in the game they added an insurance goal and skated off Tri-Cities’ ice with a 2 – 0 victory. This accomplishment really helped the girls’ confidence as they were scheduled to play Tri-Cities the following weekend — this time in Bellingham.

The rematch in Bellingham on Sunday, January 13 against Tri-Cities was even closer than that of the previous weekend. While the Wild initiated the scoring, Tri-Cities took the lead, and it wasn’t until the third period that the Wild tied the score. Late in the third period, the Wild scored the eventual game winner, which secured the game at 3 – 2.  Later that afternoon, the Wild traveled to West Vancouver to play North Shore Avalanche. Every game this season between these two team has been close, and while this battle was no exception, there was more breathing room as the Wild prevailed 4 – 2. This victory helped build the Wild’s momentum into the following weekend’s MLK tournament, in San Jose, CA, where they cumulatively outscored their opponents 27-5. The Wild’s accomplishments included two shutouts, a 4 -1 record, and the Championship banner.

Friday, January 25th brought the big test as the Wild traveled to Richmond, BC to take on the Richmond Ravens with the PCAHA Flight 1 league title on the line. While the Wild jumped out to an early 1 – 0 lead, Richmond climbed back into the game in the second period with a goal to tie the game, 1 – 1.  From the late second period through midway third period, Richmond dominated as they raced out to a commanding 4 – 1 lead before a late Wild goal narrowed the gap to the 4 – 2 final score. Knowing the league title was the prize, the Richmond Ravens played strong at home to prevent the Wild from clinching at least a share of the title at that time.  The title was decided on Sunday, January 27th in a morning game in Bellingham against Langley. After Langley jumped out to a 1 – 0 first period lead, the Wild worked their way back into the game to take a 3 – 1 lead after the second period. Final score was 5 – 3 Wild.

Washington Wild ends the 2012 – 2013 regular season with a record of 13 – 3 – 2, tied with Richmond in points, but with fewer losses than the Ravens… resulting in the Washington Wild as the 2012 – 2013 PCAHA Midget Flight 1 champions!

— Bill Davis