When Lincoln Edwards slipped past the Cariboo Cougar defense and tipped him a tape-to-tape pass into the yawning cage, a collective groan came over the home crowd.
That goal turned out to be the difference as the Fraser Valley Thunderbirds stormed back to beat the U-18 Cougars 3-2 in overtime at the BC Winter Classic in Fort Saint James.
The back and forth affair began with some great goaltending by Tysen Smith who thwarted an otherwise ferocious Fraser Valley forecheck in the first period.
After weathering the early storm, Williams Lake product Max Sanford gave Cariboo the early 1-0 edge, sniping a hard wrist shot past T-Birds goalie Trevor Agnew.
However, due to the balmy temperatures throughout the day, the middle period was mired by several ice stoppages followed by a parade to the penalty box.
Fraser Valley cracked Smith’s goose egg at 10:23 of the second period as Alyandro De Leon slapped home a loose puck, evening the affair at 1-1.
Four minutes later while shorthanded a bounce pass by Carter Hesselgrave connected with Cougars captain Decker Muijcan who went five-hole giving the hosts a 2-1 edge.
The depth of the T-Birds came through once again in a big way courtesy of Darius Bachler who redirected an Edwards feed to put the outdoor game back on even terms.
With the win, Fraser Valley remains four points up on the Cougars for fourth-place in the BC Elite Hockey League’s U-18 division.
Both teams play again this afternoon from the Fort Forum at 12:30pm.
In women’s action, the Northern Capitals threw everything including the kitchen sink at Clara Juca but in the end, it wasn’t enough.
Juca and the Fraser Valley Rush skated to a hard-fought 4-1 win over the Caps in Vanderhoof.
The visitors led 2-1 after 20 minutes thanks to goals from Gillian Lapierre and Solana Cooper.
Rachel Loewen took advantage of a Camryn Ward feed and rifled it past Juca to cut the deficit in half.
The Caps dominated the Rush in the second, due to their penalty kill but were unable to beat Juca who made many point-blank stops including a couple shorthanded on Hailey Armstrong and Maria Ayre.
Despite the constant barrage of pressure, the Caps were unable to find the equalizer, giving up two late goals to Vienna Rubin (empty net) and Leah Barnard.
Fraser Valley improves to 19-1-1, eight points ahead of the Capitals (14-6-0-3) for top-spot in the BCEHL.
The Caps have two Vanderhoof-born players including Ella Boon and Lindsay Goncalves.
Both teams play outdoors this morning at 10:00 AM from the Ernie Sam Memorial Arena.
Hear from Capitals forward Lindsey Goncalves! #defendthenorth #winterclassic #hockey #interview #northernbc #bchockey @VMHA_Bears @BCEHL pic.twitter.com/mCqgfAkcSc
— Northern Capitals (@NCapitalsfmaaa) January 22, 2022
Something going on in the Prince George area you think people should know about?
Send us a news tip by emailing [email protected].
