WENATCHEE, Wash. - The Wenatchee Wild Hockey Academy's 18-and-Under group made its return to the win column with a visit to the Canadian Sport School Hockey League's Winnipeg Showcase last week, picking up a win in its second game of the weekend and nearly snagging a second one before heading home.

Friday's game at the Hockey For All Centre saw the Calgary International Hockey Academy step off the ice with a 6-1 win over Wenatchee, with Dylan Crossley scoring a late power play goal to get the 18s on the board. Wenatchee responded nicely the following day, though, cranking out three second-period goals in a 4-1 win over the Indigenous Sports Academy. Bode Drew finished the day with a goal and two assists, and Anthony Ganoung made 44 saves to secure the win. The Wild scored four straight goals against South Alberta Hockey Academy in Sunday's game and took a 4-2 lead early in the third, but SAHA would reel off five straight goals on the way to a 7-4 victory. This time it was Kyson Lindsay and Cameron Kimmerly who led the charge for Wenatchee with a goal and two assists apiece.

"Saturday, we had an 8:30am game, and it's a two-hour time zone change. Guys were getting up at 4am B.C. time to get ready to play," said Wenatchee Wild Hockey Academy director Troy Mick. "We were down 1-0, and got the next four goals. The guys played hard, they competed and played with passion and intensity. Against [SAHA], we were down 2-0 and scored the next four goals in a row. I was so proud - usually after losses, you're never happy, but I always tell the guys as long as you compete hard and play hard, good things usually happen. They worked really hard, and you can handle losses like that when you know it could have gone the other way and the compete level was where it needed to be."

With four players out of the lineup and several call-ups from the Academy's 15-Only roster, the 16U team battled to three losses to perennial CSSHL frontrunner Okanagan Hockey Academy, while the 14U team dropped a home decision to STAR Hockey Academy in Pacific Northwest Amateur Hockey Association play.

The 15O team remains off this weekend ahead of a pair of league games in Portland, while the 16U and 18U teams return to the road to continue their CSSHL schedules. The 16U crew travels to British Columbia for a pair of games against the North Shore Warriors on Saturday and Sunday, while the 18U team travels to Vernon, British Columbia for three games against RINK Hockey Academy. The 14U team travels to the famed Pat Quinn Tournament in British Columbia this weekend, with four games on the slate.