MARYSTOWN, N.L. — Liam Best and Patrick Farrell recently returned from playing in their second Canadian Ball Hockey Association Junior National Ball Hockey tournament.

In 2018, the pair were part of the provincial under-17 team which took home the gold medal from the CBHA junior championships held in Fredericton, New Brunswick. This year they advanced to the under-19 category for the event, held in Coquitlam, Vancouver, British Columbia from July 25-28.

Farrell explained that it was a much different experience from when they competed last year.

“it was better competition, harder, (and) we learned more from the other players.”

Best added that competing with the under-19 team really made the players step up their game.

“It’s really rough and hard competition, so you got to be at the top of your game,” he said. “If you take one second off that could be a goal in the back of your net, so you’ve got to be ready to go the whole time, ready for anything.”

The team had two wins and a loss going into the semi-final game against the New Tecumseth Xtreme out of Ontario. The team was ahead 3-1 for most of the match before the Ontario team rallied with a comeback in the last five minutes of the game, winning by a final score of 4-3.

“They were a strong team, they were really skilled and there wasn’t very many weak players on their team,” said Farrell. “They ended up winning it, which they deserve, but it could of went either way.”

Best said that outside of the competition one of the highlights for him was having the opportunity to visit somewhere he had never been before.

“I’ve been (to New Brunswick) a few times, so it wasn’t as cool an experience but this year it was in Coquitlam, BC,” he explained. “BC’s a really beautiful spot, so we got to experience lots of really cool things that we didn’t see before.”

Both Farrell and Best are still eligible to play with the junior team in 2020.

“We’ve got some unfinished business now after losing the semis,” said Farrell.