The Mission Atom A1 Stars hockey squad are the 2015-2016 playoff champions.
After a hard-fought season – the squad finished in fourth, only three points out of first – the Stars faced Coquitlam in the first round best-of-three series. Colton Harrison and Kalan Vaderwick provided solid goaltending as Mission swept the series in two games.
The win put Mission into the final-four round-robin event to determine a champion.
Mission took on Abbotsford in the first game, defeating them 2-0. Sam Gerbrand scored first for Mission in the second period followed by Kia Murphy’s insurance goal.
Next up was Langley, who played a strong aggressive game, defeating Mission 5-1. Darian McKamey scored Mission’s lone goal.
Langley and Abbotsford were both defeated by North Delta, which was Mission’s final opponent.
The Stars came out strong, drawing first blood with a goal from defenceman Rylan Elson. Captain Daniel Schmidt buried another one a few minutes later to give Mission a 2-0 lead
With minutes left in the second period, North Delta scored to narrow the gap to 2-1, but Mission held on the rest of the game to win.
Mission finished the tourney with a 2-1 record and had to wait for the final game between Abbotsford and Langley to find out if they would be crowned champions.
Abbotsford and Langley finished in a 3-3 tie to secure the championship title for Mission.