Hayden Erickson
Photo courtesy: Divanelly Blanco

WENATCHEE, Wash. - All four Wenatchee Wild Hockey Academy teams are now back on the ice, with two weeks' worth of competition remaining before Christmas. The quartet went their separate ways to compete this past weekend, with the 15O team hosting the Sno-King Thunderbirds in Northwest Amateur Hockey League play. The teams battled to a 2-2 tie Saturday before dropping a 6-1 contest in Wenatchee Sunday. Hayden Erickson and Luke White netted goals in Saturday's game and Tucker Naumann turned away 48 shots, while Kailani Nichols picked up Wenatchee's only goal on Sunday.

St. George's School hosted the 16U team and added a pair of Canadian Sport School Hockey League wins in competitive games - Kason Nicholson put Wenatchee ahead first in a 6-3 loss on Saturday. The teams peppered the net, combining for 114 shots in the game. Keagan Nussbaum and Lucas Chan scored the team's goals Sunday in a 5-2 finish, with Bannen Clements making 61 saves.

The 14s and 18s played this past weekend as well, with the 14s playing in the Okanagan Classic in Kelowna, while the 18U club took a shootout loss to the Seattle Jr. Kraken. The 18s finished 3-0-0-1 in their regular-season series against the Jr. Kraken, and will host a best-of-three series in January to determine the Pacific Northwest Amateur Hockey Association's champion and representative in February's USA Hockey Pacific District tournament. For the 14s, the trip to Kelowna followed a Junior Exposure showcase in Wenatchee over Thanksgiving weekend that saw them snag three wins and fall in the final against the Thompson Blazers U15 team.

"We were up by two goals twice in the game," said Wenatchee Wild Hockey Academy director Troy Mick of his 18s' contest against Seattle. "We probably shouldn't have gone into a shootout, but they outlasted us."

Three of the four teams will be back on the ice this weekend, as the 18U team makes its return to CSSHL play with a trip to British Columbia to face St. George's School. Two more CSSHL games remain for the 16U squad against STAR Academy before the break, with the first of those two set for Sunday in Kent. Two more NWAHL home games remain for the 15O team as they welcome the Tacoma Rockets on Saturday and Sunday.