High five.
It was another glorious weekend on the ice for the under-17 Cariboo Cougars as they swept both ends of a home double-header over the weekend against the Vancouver NW Hawks.
On Saturday, the Cougars paced themselves to a 5-2 victory in Kin 2. Trysten Schmidt and Brett DeGans helped Cariboo jump out to a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes.
In the second, Garrett Harrop and Nigel Nitschke added to the scoresheet while Leo Pielak replied for the Hawks making it 4-1 at the second intermission.
Warner Callender (Cariboo) and Oliver DeMarco (Hawks) traded goals in the third period. Jayden Avery collected the win in net for the Cougars while Magnus Wallin took the loss for the Hawks.
On Sunday, Cariboo received two second-period goals from Austin Schultz and Kale King enroute to a 4-2 win in Kin 1.
The Hawks and Cougars found themselves tied after the opening 20 minutes as Callender (Cariboo) and John Shirreff (VNW) traded markers.
With the game 3-1 at the end of 40 minutes, Shirreff trimmed the deficit to 3-2 taking advantage of a turnover inside the Cariboo blueline at 15:20 of the third period.
Two minutes later, Harrop stole a puck at the Cariboo blueline and zipped his way up ice beating Wallin to ice the two-win weekend.
Cariboo improved to 5-1 on the season, sitting second in the nine-team league under local hockey alum and head coach Brogan O’Brien.
The U17 triple-a Cougars are back home Saturday (12:45pm CN Centre) and Sunday (7:45am Kin 1) against the Okanagan Rockets (1-5-0-0).
A similar outcome was delivered by the Cariboo U15-triple-A club as they outlasted the Fraser Valley Thunderbirds by scores of 3-2 (Saturday) and 5-3 (Sunday).
Jaxon Pankhurst netted the game-winner on Saturday with just over a minute remaining accepting a pass from Sutter Rowse that beat Fraser Valley goalie Monty Clarke.
The Thunderbirds struck first on the power-play at 14:03 of the first period courtesy of Jaiven Dhaliwal, a shot that squirted through the wickets of Cariboo netminder Quinn Hooper.
Desmond Croy responded with a power-play of his own tying the score at 1-1.
Special teams continued to be key as the T-Birds wrestled the lead back prior to intermission as Lyndon Pearce found a way to put the puck past Hooper for a 2-1 edge.
Cariboo got back on even terms in the second as a power move by Hudson Rowland led to another tying marker making the score 2-2.
Hooper claimed the win in goal while Clark took the loss for the Thunderbirds.
On Sunday, Fraser Valley once again struck first as Brock Berman beat Cariboo goalie Jacob Whitwell.
Croy continued his hot play offensively with another goal giving the morning tilt a 1-1 scoreline after the first period.
The game opened up in the second with a four-goal explosion – two from each side. Rowland made it 2-1 Cougars at 16:26 of the middle period, only to be matched by Fraser Valley sharpshooter Jacob Myrol 40 seconds later.
Cole Hunter then roofed a shot over the shoulder of T-Birds goalie Abel Buhler. Fraser Valley captain Nathan Mitchell evened the score at 3-3 nine minutes later.
Max Pellegrino and Jackson Hayman lit the lamp twice in the third period to preserve the win for Cariboo.
The U15’s are 4-2-0-0 on the campaign, sitting third in the nine-team league and will travel to Kelowna this weekend for a pair of matchups against the Okanagan Rockets (4-0-0-0) Saturday (3pm) and Sunday (10am) from MNP Place.
Sadly, an early fall trip to Kelowna didn’t go so well for the U18 Cariboo Cougars, dropping a pair of 8-2 and 7-1 decisions to the Rockets.
Seven different Okanagan players lit the lamp on goalie Riley Crompton. The Rockets jumped out to a 2-0 lead after one courtesy of Jeremy Deis and Braylon Lalonde.
In the second, Linden Rogers and Kaishu Shin made it 4-0 before Kadric Mujcin spoiled the shutout bid.
Brayden Jugnauth, Cooper Kitchen and Ben Campbell added singles for the Rockets.
On Sunday, Rogers and Jugnauth scored a pair of goals each against Cariboo.
Deis, Kitchen along with Grady Monsen and Ty Ossachuk also added to the goal parade.
Mujcin and Sawyer Latkowski scored for Cariboo in defeat dropping to 1-2-1 on the season. The U18 hosts the Fraser Valley Thunderbirds Saturday (3:45pm) and Sunday (10:30am) from Kin 1.
Cariboo sits fourth in the seven-team league.
Lastly, it was a fruitful showcase for the Northern Capitals under-18-women’s program going 3-1 in the Lower Mainland.
The successful weekend was capped off by a dramatic 3-2 shootout victory against the Greater Vancouver Comets on Sunday.
Lily Krueger tied the game with nine seconds left fooling Comets netminder Sydney Watson.
Both teams were tied 1-1 after the first period as Stella Lovell (Caps) and Eavan Mathieson White (Comets) found the back of the net.
In the second, Zoe Wang put Greater Vancouver back in the driver’s seat with a 2-1 edge after 40 minutes.
Claire Pederson tallied the shootout winner for the Capitals.
Caps goalie Kezia Zamec stood tall in net turning aside 33 Comets shots.
On Saturday, the Caps outlasted the Vancouver Island Seals by a 3-2 score.
Again, the Capitals found themselves tied after the first period as affiliate player Aya Katsura found the back of the net while Carys Robertshaw opened the scoring for the Seals.
VI took its only lead of the game five minutes into the second courtesy of Brynne Reilly.
Addy Ayre and Aubrey Fehr stormed back late for the Capitals scoring twice in a span of 13 seconds past Seals goalie Sophia Phillips.
Kenzie Bragg stopped 22 VI shots to collect the victory.
The Capitals also got the best of the Seals on Friday night skating to a 1-0 decision. Pederson notched her first BC Elite Hockey League goal with 1:47 remaining in the first period.
Nyah Brown stood on her head inside the Seals crease making 32 saves in defeat while Bragg collected the 12-save goose egg.
The Capitals kicked off the showcase with a 4-2 defeat at the hands of the Fraser Valley Rush.
Linden Savage potted a hat-trick for the Rush, who netted four unanswered goals after falling behind 2-0 in the first period.
Krueger and Zoey Fehr scored in the loss for the Capitals. The Caps host the Seals (0-5-1) Saturday (6:30pm Kin) and Sunday (9am Kin 2).
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