Five local teams, including three from the Surrey Female Hockey Association, are competing at B.C. Hockey championship tournaments throughout the province this week.
The Surrey Falcons will be competing at the Pee Wee, Bantam and Midget tournaments, while the Cloverdale Colts are at the Bantam Tier One competition in Kamloops.
The Surrey Thunder is at the Juvenile tournament in Richmond.
The Falcons Pee Wee team defeated the North Shore 2-1 to win the Pacific Coast Amateur Hockey Association (PCAHA) championship. They were 12-2-1 (won-lost-tied) in league play, finishing one point back of North Shore.
The Richmond Ravens, just three points out of top spot, are the host team for the provincial tournament which began yesterday (Sunday).
Surrey opened the tournament with a 6-1 victory over VIAHA (Vancouver Island). The championshiop game is Thursday at 8 p.m. in the Minoru Arena.
The Bantam Female tournament takes place in Victoria, where Surrey is one of 10 teams competing in a competition which began Sunday.
The Falcons have started strong, defeating the North Island Edge 6-1. Ashley Long netted four goals, with Natalie Richardson and Tianna Nijjar adding singles.
The Falcons went 9-5-0 in league play to place third, but were second in the playoff round. Surrey edged Richmond 3-2 to clinch a berth in Victoria, then lost 1-0 to the North Shore in the PCAHA championship game.
Surrey was also third place in league play in the Midget division, going 7-5-3. The Falcons were 2-2 in a three-team final, placing second to qualify for the seven-team provincial tournament which is played Monday through Friday in Salmon Arm.
Cloverdale placed second in league play (14-4-0), then won six consecutive playoff games to win the PCAHA championship banner, clinching the title with a 6-2 win over a Burnaby Winter Club team which was 17-1-2 in league play.
A 16-3-1 record lifted the Surrey Thunder to first place in league play, and a 3-1-1 record in the postseason was enough to qualify for the Juvenile tournament Thursday through Sunday.