WENATCHEE, Wash. - One goal can make a big difference.

The Wenatchee Wild Hockey Academy made its return to the USA Hockey Pacific District championship tournament this past weekend, with the program's 18-and-Under team nearly knocking off the eventual district champions on the final day of round-robin play.

Wenatchee finished 1-2 at the tournament, taking an 8-2 loss to the Anaheim Jr. Ducks to open the tournament last Thursday, with goals from Kaiden Turta and Tyler Stefani. The San Jose Jr. Sharks jumped out to a 3-1 lead last Friday before Wenatchee rattled off four straight goals en route to an 8-5 win, led by Sean Strasser's two goals and two assists. Team Alaska ran out to a 4-0 advantage in the second period before Wenatchee made its move - Dublin McGuire scored back-to-back goals before the intermission, and five minutes into the third, the Alaska lead had dwindled to 5-4. However, Wenatchee was held to just one shot on goal in the game's final seven minutes, and never got the tying goal it sought.

"We didn't start very well against the Ducks," said Wild Hockey Academy director Troy Mick. "We were definitely slow, and the score was indicative of our play, but then we rallied against San Jose. Team Alaska ended up beating the Ducks in a shootout to go to nationals, so I don't know if that makes you feel any better or not. We started slow again and got into some penalty trouble, but we picked away and pulled our goalie and got a couple of looks. I'm proud of the guys - they worked hard all season. When you're playing teams like that, you've got to play with a little bit of bite, and you've got to be structured. When you're down, it's easy to take the easy way out, and our guys didn't."

The remaining schedule for the Academy programs will see them in Penticton for the Canadian Sport School Hockey League's Western Championships - the 18U team will start a three-game round-robin slate on Saturday morning against RINK Hockey Academy Winnipeg, with the top two teams in the four-team Division II field to play a final game Tuesday. The 16U team begins its turn at the Western Championships on Wednesday, March 18.