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CSSHL Western Championships: U15 & Female U18 Prep Teams & Players to Watch

by jmartin

The 2026 Canadian Sport School Hockey League (CSSHL) Western Championships are well under way, having started Saturday, March 7 in Penticton, BC.

106 teams total will bring their talents to Penticton, bringing with them the top student-athletes in Western Canada in six different division. These 106 teams will compete in a total of five-to-six games in just as many days, all for the chance to be crowned CSSHL Western Champions.

If last year’s Western Championships taught us anything, it’s that on any given day any team can win. We saw top ranked teams get the job done as expected, and we saw lower ranked teams overcome the odds and even make a finals push.

At this year’s event we expect the same. With that in mind, here are some ‘Teams and Players to Watch’ in the U15 and Female U18 Prep Divisions.

U15 Players to Watch

 

U15 Teams to Watch

BWC Academy – Three Seed

BWC Academy (28-5-3) is led by a pair of electric 2012 born forwards in Mars Zhang (36-47-83) and Alex Iachkin (39-43-82), with the duo sitting fourth and sixth in league scoring. A pair of 2011 Maple Ridge, BC defenders in Logan Hooper (9-35-44), who finds himself fifth among defensemen in points, and Jackson Sponchia (4-29-33) pace the BWC Academy d-core. 2012 born netminders William Houle (14-2-2) and Lachlan Beatty (14-3-1) combined for a 2.84 GAA and .904 SV%, while posting four shutouts. BWC Academy has never won the U15 division, but Zhang and Iachkin will look to make history for the program.

Delta Hockey Academy Black – Two Seed

Delta Black (30-4-2) finished in second after winning 30 games this season. They would finish second in goals for (253), goals against (87), goal differential (166), and penalty kill percentage (87.7%). Having a good penalty kill is vital to their success to counteract their lack of discipline, as they were the only team to record more than 600 penalty minutes, finishing with 617 on the season. Second year players Bentley Gillis (41-43-84) and Zach Giles (34-49-83) finished inside the top five for scoring with 2012 born Stefano Trentalance (28-37-65) finishing ninth. Kevin Goodale (16-38-54) and Easton Isfeld (17-30-47) finished one-two among defensemen in scoring this season to lead a potent blueline that saw five-of-six dmen with 20 plus points, and all six dmen in double digits. Ray Baran (15-2-1) and Holter Karpiak (15-2-1) each sit inside the top four with a 2.28 GAA and 2.54 GAA, respectively. Delta hasn’t won a U15 Western Championship since they three-peated from 2015-17, but the Delta Black offence will look to propel them to their first championship since 2017.

RINK Hockey Academy Winnipeg – One Seed

It was a dominant season for RHA Winnipeg as they went 34-2-0 and come into the Western Championships with a 14-game winning streak. Their dominance extends to the stat line with the most goals scored (264), fewest goals against (85), and best goal differential (+179). Leading scorer Brock Labelle (25-48-73) leads a balanced but dominant attack that consists of 7 forwards with 50-plus points, nine with 40-plus, and every forward having 28 or more. The RHA Winnipeg d-core doesn’t have the same high-end firepower as some of the other units, but all six defensemen have double digit points and contribute largely to the success of netminders Cooper Beardy (17-1-0) and Madyx Cyr (17-1-0). Beardy leads the division with a 2.16 GAA while Cyr sits fifth, while also having scored the third goalie goal in CSSHL history earlier this season. RHA Winnipeg won U15 Division II last season and will look to repeat that success this year in the Championships division.

Yale Hockey Academy – Four Seed

Like BWC Academy, Yale has never won the U15 division but will have a good chance this season, being separated by .01 from BWC Academy in the standings. Yale finds themselves sixth in scoring with 200 goals for, excelling on the defensive side with 97 goals against, third fewest in the division. Mason Baptiste (15-3-0) and Landon Rivas (14-2-2) sit third and seventh in GAA and fifth and tenth in save percentage this season. Underage, 2013 born defenseman Matthew Tang (12-26-38) leads the defensive unit alongside 2011 born Gavin Copley (1-28-29), who finished inside the top 10 among defensemen in assists. Offensively six Yale forwards have more than 34 points with Emmett Rumbold (33-27-60) and Brady Barrett (22-32-54) leading the charge. All 12 forwards, who played a regular game count, have 14 points or more with 10 of those being on the plus-side of 20. Yale may be missing the dynamic piece the other three top teams have, but a solid line up from top to bottom should present a challenge for any opponent at this year’s Western Championships.

Female U18 Prep Players to Watch

 

Female U18 Prep Teams to Watch

Delta Hockey Academy Green – One Seed

Delta Green went 24-5-1 to finish as the number one seed at the conclusion of the regular season. With 150 goals scored and a +93-goal differential they posted the second deadliest offence and goal differential. Another key to the Delta Green success this season was taking the second fewest penalty minutes in the division, less than 10 minutes per game. While the team stayed out of the box, they took advantage of other teams’ lack of discipline with a league best 28.7% power play, almost 5% better than anyone else. 2010 born Adie Schneider (24-28-52), who spent the last two seasons in the male U15 and U15 Prep divisions, leads arguably the most balanced attack in the division with six forwards averaging more than a point-per-game, and all forwards in double digit points. University of Calgary commit Madison Batch (3-25-28) is the leader of the blueline that consists of 2010 Alexis Vary (1-10-11) and Saint Mary’s University commit Rachel Caughlan (0-9-9). In net Delta Green has a mix of veteran and University of British Columbia commit Ella Dunham-Fox (12-2-1), and standout 2010 Mya Young (12-3-0), who is third in GAA (1.60) and SV% (.938). Delta Green comes in riding a 9-1-0 record in their last 10 and will look to win their first ever Female Division I CSSHL Western Championship.

OHA Edmonton – Three Seed

With just three graduating players, the core of this team is built to win in 2027 and 2028, but with the likes of two of the most dynamic players in the division in 2010 born Ryann Chimera (14-45-59) and 2009 Riley Cooper (25-31-56), they are poised to make a run this season as well. 2010 Avery Sam (26-22-48) joins Chimera and Cooper inside the top 8 in scoring while 2010 Svana Sveinbjornson (11-25-36) leads all defensemen in assists and points. This group of players have led OHA Edmonton to the best offence (153) and goal differential (+100) in the division this season. On the other side of the puck, they have allowed the fewest goals this season (53) and have the second-best penalty kill (88.9%) of teams in the Championship bracket. Emma Skolney (11-2-0) leads the division with a 1.43GAA, sitting fifth with a .933SV%, while Harlee Houle (14-1-2) has a 1.94 GAA and .915 SV%. OHA Edmonton is 6-2-2 in their last 10 but went 1-3 in February in games against the other top three teams in the division. Head Coach Jason Chimera will be tasked with getting his squad back on track at the most important time of the year if OHA Edmonton are to capture their first ever Female U18 Prep CSSHL Western Championship.

RINK Hockey Academy Kelowna – Two Seed

The Female U18 Prep division has belonged to RHA Kelowna for the entirety of the 2020’s, winning four straight CSSHL Western Championships. While they enter this season in unchartered territory as the two-seed, having lost just as many games in regulation as the previous four seasons combine, this RHA Kelowna team is still one of the best in country, loaded with high end talent. The CSSHL’s all-time leading points and goal scorer Kennedy Sisson (26-26-52), Ohio State University commits Alida Korte (26-22-48) and Hayley McDonald (14-21-35) have all represented Team Canada U18, while Cornell University commit Jillian McLaughlin (14-20-34) recently won gold with the Team USA U18 side. The offensive output might not be as high as expected from this unit, but they play a very sound two-way game, allowing just 55 goals against this season. NCAA commit Jaya Schippel (13-1-1) and U SPORTS commit Julianne Hendriks (11-4-0) combine for a 1.83 GAA, .928 SV% and 6 shutouts this season, and will be relied upon heavily to shut down the Delta Green and OHA Edmonton attacks. It won’t be easy and they might need more finals heroics from Korte, the division’s best player, but you can’t count out a team that’s won as much as RHA Kelowna in the last four years.

South Alberta Hockey Academy – Four Seed

SAHA comes into the Western Championships as the hottest team in the division at 8-2-0 in their last 10, but 12-2 since November 30th.  Those two losses did come at the hands of Delta Green and OHA Edmonton, but by a combined differential of three goals, and they followed up their 4-3 loss to OHA Edmonton with a 3-0 win against them the next day in their last game of the regular season. SAHA is a mid-pack team offensively with 116 goals for, but with 56 goals against they are three of the division low. Mika Yokota (11-4-0) plays a key role in net for SAHA, sitting second in the division with a 1.46 GAA and .952 SV%, while her six shutouts are a Female U18 Prep best. Alongside Yokota, SAHA has one of the strongest d-core’s in the division with college commits Sophie Erlam (2-22-24), Tien Woo (2-11-13) and Jaylee Skog (2-2-4), 2010 Riley Bourque (10-13-23) and 2009 Kailey Karpan (5-8-13). Upfront, 2009 Teylor Crocker (19-18-37) leads the attack alongside 2010 Maria Facca (13-20-33) captain and Trinity Western University commit Kamryn Reiber (7-24-31). Eight SAHA forwards sit with double digit points, including York University commit Hallie Parada (8-10-18). SAHA has proven during the regular season they can compete with the Big Three. Now it’s time to see to see if they can do it when it matters most and bring home their first Female U18 Prep CSSHL Western Championship.