Talk about a barn burner.
The word quit wasn’t in the vocabulary of the Northern Capitals who rolled a lucky seven and bested a long-standing rival on Sunday.
A pair of goals each from Paxton Fraser and Sofie Passeri anchored the Capitals to a thrilling 7-5 victory over the Fraser Valley Rush in Kin 2.
Both teams were fit to be tied after the opening twenty minutes ending matters at a 2-2 score.
Madelyn Dominato opened the scoring for the Rush at 4:25 of the first period as her point shot floated underneath the cross bar beating Caps goalie Kenzie Bragg for a 1-0 lead.
Fraser evened the score two minutes later as she was sprung on a breakaway by Khya Swanson going short side on Fraser Valley goalie Brooklyn Fernie.
Passeri made it 2-1 Capitals off a broken play trickled into the Fraser Valley slot. The Williams product fired a blast into the open cage.
Ava McGinley put the visitors back on even terms 42 seconds later accepting a Dylann Nelson feed, which beat Bragg.
Much like the first, the middle period kept up to its track meet feel.
Gabrieal Verbain made it 3-2 Rush as McGinley played the role of playmaker this time.
Then, a botched 3-on-2 odd-man chance by Fraser Valley thanks to a desperation poke check by Caps defender Grace Porter, led to a jail break 2-on-oh.
Lucy Lafontaine rushed up the ice on a breakaway and passed across to Passeri who an open shooting late and rippled the mesh past Fernie.
Later in the frame, special teams proved to be a big key as a parade to the penalty box ensued with the Capitals taking four straight penalties.
Kaylyn Halwas made the hosts pay, beating Bragg short side to put Fraser Valley back on top at 4-3.
However, no lead was safe in this matinee as Fraser notched a man-advantage marker of her own, courtesy of a Johana Ketter pass.
The firewagon hockey started off with bang in the third as the red seas parted for Halwas who bull rushed her way to a breakaway chance as she made no mistake on.
The turning point in the game was a cross-checking penalty to Fraser Valley’s Sophie Wilkins.
On the power-play, the Capitals broke down the Rush box as a cross-ice feed from Neen Suapa found Porter who snuck through the back door for a 5-5 tie.
Paige Umbach drove to the net on another power-play, locating a loose puck off a Porter point shot to put the hosts in the driver’s seat.
Ketter added the empty netter to seal the win.
On Saturday, the Rush got the better of the Capitals skating to a 3-0 win on Pink In the Rink Night.
The Capitals improve to 4-5-1 while the Rush drop to 8-5-0-0.
Next action for the Capitals is a weekend set for the Vancouver Island Seals (1-8-0) Saturday (5pm) and Sunday (8am) in Colwood.
In U18 men’s action, the Cariboo Cougars flexed their offensive muscles with a pair of dominant wins against the last-place Greater Vancouver Canadians.
The AAA Cougars pounced to a 12-0 victory on Saturday and romped to a 19-0 shutout on Sunday.
In Sunday’s game Prince George Cougars prospect Jaxon Larmand was credited with six goals while Riley Lettington notched a hat-trick.
Ty Maloney also lit the lamp twice.
Saturday saw Blake Lambe and Lettington score twice while Easton Goulet came through with the hat-trick.
Cariboo (6-3-1) sits third in the eight-team league and heads to Vernon this weekend to play in the RINK Academy tournament.
In U17 action, the Cariboo Cougars earned a road split against the Vancouver Northwest Hawks.
On Saturday, the Hawks got by with a 3-1 victory handing the Cats their first regulation loss of the season.
Charles Payne, William Morantz and Charles Payne scored for the Hawks while Brett DeGans replied for Cariboo.
The Sunday matinee saw the Cougars rebound with a gutsy 2-1 win.
Nigel Nitschke and Brody Bustard drove the bus offensively for Cariboo who is now 9-1-1 – second place in the nine-team league trailing the Thompson Blazers (10-3-1).
The U17’s are hosting the Fraser Valley Thunderbirds Saturday (6:30pm) and Sunday (9am) at Kin 1.
Lastly, the U15 Cariboo Cougars earned a split at home with the Vancouver Northeast Chiefs.
A 4-3 shootout win on Saturday was followed up by a 7-3 defeat on Sunday in Kin 1.
Warner Callendar scored three times including the shootout winner in the weekend opener while Cougars goaltender Jayden Avery was named the first star.
Vancouver NE jumped out to a 4-0 lead Sunday morning and never looked back against the sleepy Cougars.
Jake Pozzobon and Carson Stirling scored twice each for the Chiefs while Ryland Lemp also lit the lamp on two occasions in defeat for the Cougars.
Cariboo drops to (6-4-0) and travels to Chilliwack to play the Fraser Valley Thunderbirds (8-1-0) Saturday and Sunday.
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