After a hard week of practice, the Cariboo Cougars took no pity on their opponent.
The U18 AAA Cats completed a weekend sweep of the Valley West Giants skating to 6-1 and 4-3 (shootout) victories Saturday and Sunday from Kin 1.
Cariboo came out like gangbusters against the Giants out shooting them 15-0 in the first period of Saturday’s home opener only to be turned aside by Valley West netminder Roman Singh.
The visitors were under siege so often, they didn’t register a shot on net until the game was 29 minutes old.
Lukas Woods broke the ice in the second period as his point shot went over the glove of Singh for a 1-0 lead.
Five minutes later, Ty Maloney accepted a Blake Lambe feed to double the Cougars advantage after 40 minutes.
In the third, Gavin Bradley pulled Valley West within one after deflecting home a shot past Cariboo netminder Ivan Anderson trimming the score to 2-1.
Calm and composed, the Cougars didn’t flinch and rattled off four unanswered goals, two of which came off the stick of Nicholas Gordon while Kadric Mujcin and Landon Gillanders added singles.
Anderson picked up the win in net for the U18 Cougars.
On Sunday, Mujcin scored the first shootout winner in Cariboo history to preserve Sunday’s 4-3 victory over the Giants.
Both teams found themselves deadlocked in a 2-2 tie after 20 minutes. Lambe scored twice for the Cougars while John Jack Tudhope and Andrew Chen replied for Valley West.
Easton Goulet put the Cougars ahead with a bullet shot under the bar past Giants goaltender Aiden Thronton.
Ronan Coopman tied the game in the third via an Adam Farnden pass to force extra time.
Cariboo improves to 3-1 on the season and will face the Okanagan Rockets (2-0) Saturday and Sunday from MNP Place.
The Rockets outscored the Greater Vancouver Canadians 26-0 during opening weekend.
In U17 action, Cariboo found a way to sweep Greater Vancouver escaping with 5-4 and 2-1 road victories at the Richmond Oval.
On Saturday, Tavon Peterson and Nigel Nitschke lit the lamp in the second period to put the Cougars ahead for good in the contest.
Maxwell Clemens replied for the Canadians.
Brennen Purych collected the win in goal for Cariboo.
On Sunday, Sawyer Latkowski led the way offensively for the AAA Cougars with a pair of goals.
Garrett Harrop, Jayden Brideau and Tavon Peterson added singles.
Kaleb Sandberg picked up his first win in the B.C. Elite Hockey League.
Keenan Mak scored twice in the loss for the Canadians while Brian Woolfenden and Noah Law lit the lamp late in the third.
Cariboo moves to 4-0 and will suit up against the Vancouver NE Chiefs from the Scotiabarn in Burnaby Saturday and Sunday.
In U15 action, the Cougars earned a split against the Thompson Blazers dropping a 5-3 decision on Saturday before rebounding with an 8-5 victory Sunday.
Cariboo jumped out to a 2-0 lead at the end of the first period on Saturday courtesy of goals from Trysten Schmidt and Warner Callender.
Daniel Hayhurst began the comeback for the Blazers in the second period with a power move to the back hand scoring against Cats goalie Jayden Avery.
After Taylor McKay made it 3-1 for Cariboo, Hudson Deisroth made it a one-goal game again for the Blazers prior to intermission.
Thompson scored three unanswered in the third to complete the comeback off the sticks of Desiroth, Maxwell McKendry and Tucker O’Brien.
On Sunday, Schmidt and Ryland Lemp scored twice each to earn the weekend split against the Blazers.
Callender, McKay along with Jaxon White and Madden Weldon added singles for the Cougars who move to 5-1 on the campaign.
Their next regular season action is October 18th and 19th in Kelowna against the Okanagan Rockets.
Lastly, the Northern Capitals Female U18 AAA program kicked off their regular season in Surrey at the BCEHL Showcase going 1-2-1 in the process.
Friday’s opener saw them fall 3-1 to the Fraser Valley Rush. Kaylyn Hawes, Abigail Kim and Vada Kennedy scored for the Rush while Grace Porter notched her first BCEHL goal in defeat.
Kenzie Bragg took the loss in net.
The Capitals then fell 5-4 in a shootout later that evening to the Vancouver Island Seals.
After trailing 2-0 at the end of the first period, the Caps evened the score in the second with goals from Reese Overton and Paxton Fraser.
VI reclaimed the lead prior to intermission courtesy of Seren Elkiw.
In the third, the Capitals fought back to tie the game at the end of regulation as Porter and Passeri lit the lamp while Claire Harvey replied for the Seals.
The Capitals got their revenge in Saturday’s rematch with the Seals recording a 6-1 victory.
Johana Ketter, Alliesha King (first BCEHL goal), Paxton Fraser, Paige Umbach, Claire Johnson and Grace Porter tickled the twine in the win.
On Sunday, the Greater Vancouver Comets made short work of the Capitals skating to an 8-0 win.
Carolyn Koo led the way with a hat-trick for the Comets. Finley Elliott, Kaiya Pennell, Naomi Duifhuis, Zoe Wilcox and Hana Nishi added singles.
The Capitals host the Fraser Valley Rush Saturday and Sunday at Kin 2.
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