Regina Rebels win U18 national championship gold medal in victory over North York Storm

For the first time, the Regina Rebels are national champions at the Esso Cup.

The team beat North York Storm 2-1 in the 2024 Esso Cup to claim the Canada's Women's U18 National Club Championship title in Vernon, B.C., on Saturday afternoon.

Their gold medals are an upgrade from their third place finish last season.

"After the bronze medal last year, we had one goal: to win this tournament. And here we are," said 16-year-old Berlin Lolacher, who was named the top forward of the tournament.

Regina Rebels players hoist the trophy after beating the North York Storm in the gold medal game at the Canada’s Women’s U18 National Club Championship. (Hockey Canada/Facebook)

Lolacher tied teammate Stryker Zablocki and the Storm's Sydney Bowness with 11 points at the Esso Cup.

She also opened the scoring at Saturday's game, notching the club's first goal midway through the second period on a rebound from Addison Greve, and tying the tournament record for most goals at an Esso Cup with 10.

Only a couple minutes later, Rebels' Zablocki won a race to a dribbling puck dumped into the offensive zone and scored to stretch the lead to 2-0.

Of the 49 shots faced by Storm goaltender Jamie Sanford, those were the only two to make it to the scoreboard.

The Storm's Lily Paisley would shrink the lead to one with a power play goal off a rebound midway through the third period, but the Rebels would maintain their lead to win the 2024 Esso Cup final, trumping the team that had beat them 7-6 in overtime during the preliminary round about a week prior.

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"To go from bronze to gold was our only thought this week," said Zablocki.

"Saskatchewan is always known as a bit of an underdog but here we are, and there is no group of girls I would rather go to battle with. I love this team."

17-year-old Zablocki was named the tournament's most valuable player.

The Regina Rebels entered the tournament coming off a dominant season with only three losses in 30 games. Zablocki led the team in scoring with 65 points in 27 games, followed by Lolacher who garnered 40 points over the same amount of games.

Taking their former place as bronze medallists, the Edmonton Jr. Oilers beat the Thompson-Okanagan Lakers 1-0 in overtime.