The Port Moody Panthers scratched and clawed their way to fourth place at the prestigious Richmond International Midget Hockey tournament last week.

Although it ended with back-to-back losses, the squad skated home having accomplished quite a bit.

Prince George handed them a 6-1 loss to take third place, with Matthew Sippola converting on assists from Nikita Kozak and Nik Ricker, giving Port Moody a brief lead early in the first period before the northern squad tallied six times.

In the semifinal, the Panthers were edged out by the Delta Academy 4-1. Delta took a 2-0 lead into the second period, where Ricker cut it in half. But two more goals by Delta salted it away.

Port Moody advanced to the final four when

Sippola converted a setup from Cameron Obcena and Jacob Riedl at 5: 24 of the third, giving them a 2-1 victory over the host Richmond team. Obcena had tied the game late in the first, with an assist from Matt Davis.

The Panthers finished with a 3-4 record overall, with Obcena leading all local shooters with four goals and four assists over seven games.

Tri-Cities

The Tri-Cities girls midget Predators prevailed with flying colours at last week's Angels on Ice hockey tournament in Langley.

The Predators knocked off Western Washington rivals 4-1 to capture tourney bragging rights. Their lone loss had come a day earlier at the hands of Western Washington in a 64 decision.

Nicole Vukasovic put Tri-Cities in front early in the first, followed by a marker by Megan Bradford. Washington cut the lead in half in the second frame, but the Predators replied with two more by Vukasovic to wrap it up.

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