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Canora IP Cobras bring home trophy after exciting win in Yorkton

The Canora IP Cobras came through with a sudden death overtime victory to win the B side of a tournament held in Yorkton on March 2 and 3.
Team
Members of the Canora IP Cobras posed with their trophy after winning first place in the B side of a tournament in Yorkton on March 2 and 3. From left, were: (back row) Leona Kitchen (coach), Hailey Kraynick, Kenzee Kopelchuk, Caleb Daniels, Priah Wolkowski, Yuri Olynyk, Courtlyn Heshka and Meridee Kopelchuk (coach) and (front) Odin Fullawka, Angel Sliva, Declan Unick, Drew Kitchen, Karter Shukin and Rachel Mentanko.

The Canora IP Cobras came through with a sudden death overtime victory to win the B side of a tournament held in Yorkton on March 2 and 3.

In addition to Canora, the 16-team tournament included teams from Esterhazy, Wadena, Foam Lake, Grand Plains, Man. (two), Melville (two), Moosomin (four) and Yorkton (four.)

For the Cobras, the tournament began with a Saturday morning game against the Yorkton Smoothies, said Leona Kitchen, coach.

“We ended up losing this game, and I think the players were thinking this tournament might be too hard for us,” said Kitchen.

But the players had several hours between games to eat lunch and get some rest, which seemed to be just what they needed. The second Cobras game resulted in a victory over the Grand Plains Hawks.

“The team was super excited and this meant we were on the B side for Sunday,” stated Kitchen. 

The next morning brought a contest against the Melville Millionaires, which turned out to be a stiff challenge.

“Both teams were very even in ability,” said Kitchen. “Canora ended up winning 10 to 8.”

With the victory, the Cobras qualified for the B side final and a chance for the first place trophy in a game against the Moosomin Orange.

“This was another nail biter,” recalled Kitchen. “The goals were going in back and forth the whole time. Both teams played great and were well matched in ability again. The third period ended with an 8 to 8 tie, which meant six minutes of sudden death overtime. At about 40 seconds into the overtime Yuri Olynyk scored the winning goal for Canora and the team and parents went crazy cheering. It was a very exciting, and well-deserved finish for this hard working team!”