The Cariboo Cougars seem to have a short memory.
Less than a day after losing game 2 on Saturday to the Vancouver Northwest Giants (VNW) in double overtime, the Major Midget Cats eased past VNW on Sunday taking the third and final game, 6-3 at Kin 1.
COUGARS WIN!!!!!!! 6-3 final over the @NWGiants in a spirited three-game semifinal series. Thomas and Floris with a pair each in the win
— Cariboo Cougars (@cariboocougars) March 19, 2017
Cariboo jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the opening frame thanks to a pair of goals from Mason Richey and Hunter Floris who put them past Giants netminder Jesse Makaj.
Things got a little a goofy in the middle period when affiliate player Kent Johnson took advantage of a sloppy play in front the Cougars net putting it past Marcus Allen making it a 2-1 game.
A short time later, Gianni Fairbrother scored his first of two with a point shot on the power-play following a penalty on Cougars forward Reid Perepeluk evening the score at two a piece.
The Cougars stormed right back later in the period with two unanswered markers from Ty Kolle and Trey Thomas for a 4-2 advantage.
Another breakdown in the Cougars defensive zone gave the Giants some life heading into the intermission when Fairbrother zipped another past Allen with 0.6 seconds to go in the period cutting the deficit to 4-3 after 40 minutes.
Cariboo regained composure in the third and began with an early goal from Floris with the puck going in off of his sweater courtesy of a point shot from Jonas Harkins.
Late in the frame VNW pulled Makaj down a pair and gave up an empty-netter to Thomas who capitalized on a strong defensive effort from Ty Maser.
MYPGNOW caught up with Thomas after the game and says his line that includes Richey and Daine Dubois are feeling it right now.
“We played together all of last year so we kind of already have that chemistry, I’ve played with Daine my whole life and they just put us back together after Christmas and since then we’ve been gelling together and getting lost of points.”
Thomas adds they really wanted to win this game for injured captain Jesse Pomeroy who was unable to play due to a neck injury.
“We all knew he kind of would do anything to play and last night he was wanting to play but just couldn’t and was too sore but we wanted to win it for him so he could play in more games.”
Cougars Head Coach and GM Trevor Sprague tipped his cap to the Giants for a hard-fought series but expected a gritty effort from the short-staffed visitors.
“Every team gets ready to play the Cariboo Cougars, with the way they play other teams in the league isn’t the way they play us, they’re ready for us the coaching staff needs to be ready to play the Cariboo Cougars. Our guys can’t underestimate any team we play against but it’s also one of the best things because you get the best hockey games.”
Logan Archer who was on last year’s Cougars team that made to the BCMML final filled in for Pomeroy in game 3.
Trevor Longo suited up and played well for the Giants after exiting game 2 in overtime due to a knee injury.
Game 1 for the BCMML final against the Greater Vancouver Canadians will begin on Friday at 3:15 from Kin 1.
Cougars will host the best-of-three BCMML final series next weekend at Kin 1. Game 1 is 3:15 on Friday.
— Cariboo Cougars (@cariboocougars) March 19, 2017