If the Northern Capitals have any designs of reaching the BC Elite Hockey League Under-18 female final once again, they will have to master the power of two.
Two wins and your off to the next round. The Capitals will have roughly two weeks to get that habit down after falling to the Thompson-Okanagan Lakers Saturday and Sunday from Kin 2.
Saturday’s opener was nothing short of sensational, with the game having a little bit of everything, some big goals, timely saves, physicality and scoring chances.
However, it would be the Lakers edging the Caps in a shootout by a 4-3 score.
After a scoreless first, both teams found their offensive mojo in the middle frame.
Grace Porter drew first blood for the Capitals as a set play off a faceoff saw the Williams Lake blueliner sneak in past the Lakers defence, making no mistake on goaltender Courtney Cooke.
In the dying seconds of the period, Payton Correia let a point blast go that fooled Caps goalie Taylor Rutter for a 1-1 tie after 40 minutes.
Anybody who thought both teams would play cautious, defensive hockey in the third was in for a surprise.
Emilia Lukinchuk made it 2-1 Lakers as she beat Rutter.
Two minutes later, Tylor Jensen evened the score as she let go a hard slap shot that went over the hand of Cooke and into the top corner.
On the following shift, the Capitals gave momentum right back to Thompson-Okanagan as Jessie Umeris found herself all alone right in the slot area, putting a shot between the legs of Rutter.
Reese Overton of Williams Lake saved the day for the Capitals two minutes later as she sneaked through the Laker coverage and taking a hard shot past Cooke on another set play to mark it at 3-3 after regulation.
Kyla Johnson scored the shootout winner for the Lakers.
On Sunday, Thompson-Okanagan jumped out to a 5-0 edge and completed the sweep against the Caps by a 6-3 score.
The visitors pounced to a 5-0 thanks to a strong start in the third via Madison Millership, Ana Lovelace and Kiran Keller.
Caps head coach Hayden James Berra dug deep into the playbook during the later stages of the third period, pulling goaltender Kenzie Bragg in favour of a 6-on-4 advantage with roughly five minutes left.
Khya Swanson, Sofie Passeri and Reese Overton trimmed the deficit to 5-3.
Umeris added her second of the game and empty-netter to ice away the victory.
Umeris collected another goal in the second period to put the Lakers in the drivers seat.
Maicey Hawes also added another single.
In U18 boys action, the U18 Cariboo Cougars made short work of the Valley West Giants on Saturday sliding to a 10-4 win in North Surrey.
Prince George Cougars prospect Kadric Mujcin collected one goal and five assists in the contest.
After the Giants had a 3-2 lead, Cariboo scored eight out of the last nine goals. Riley Lettington, Vincent Vassallo, River Knipe, Blake Lambe, Nicholas Gordon, Dylan Stanley and Ty Maloney.
Ivan Anderson made 19 saves in the win for Cariboo. Nathan Danielson, Gavin Bradley (2) and Jack Tudhope scored in defeat for the Giants.
On Sunday, Cariboo clipped the wings off the Fraser Valley Thunderbirds skating to a 4-0 win.
Connor Feeney led the way with one goal and two assists. Lambe, Mujcin and Landon Gillanders also lit the lamp for the U18’s.
Oscar Hicik pitched his first BCEHL shutout in the victory. Cariboo is slated to suit up against Valley West in its first round matchup.
The U18AAA Cougars finish the regular season with a record of 19-12-2-1 and will play the Valley West Giants in Round One (best of three)of the 2026 Playoffs March 6th to 8th from Kin 1.
U17
The U17 Cariboo Cougars kick of their BCEHL best-of-three first round matchup against the Valley West Giants on Friday at 6:45pm from Kin 1.
Cariboo finished third in the nine-team league with a record of 24-11-0-1 while the Giants were 16-17-1-2, sitting sixth.
Game 2 is slated for Saturday at 6:30pm and Game 3 if needed will played at 9am on Sunday.
U15
Playoffs also begin for the U15 Cariboo Cougars with a round robin format starting on Thursday with a pair of games against the Vancouver NE Chiefs (8:30am) and Okanagan Rockets (5pm) in Langley.
On Friday, Cariboo will lock horns against the Greater Vancouver Canadians at Noon.
The U15 Cougars finished fifth in the eight-team league with a 16-14-0-0 record.
U18 Female AAA
The Capitals finish the regular season fourth in the five-team league with a record of 11-18-1-2 and will host the Survivor Series against the Vancouver Island Seals March 6th to 8th in Kin 2.
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