For the first time this season, the Cariboo Cougars suffered back-to-back losses.
Last weekend in Coquitlam, the Vancouver Northeast Chiefs edged the Cougars in a pair of games, 2-1 on Saturday and 3-2 on Sunday. With the wins, the Chiefs moved into second place in the B.C. Hockey Major Midget League with a 19-4-0-3 record, good for 41 points. They trail the front-running Cats (23-4-1-0) by six points and have two games in hand.
In the Saturday game, the Chiefs got a first-period goal from Juliano Santalucia and a second-period marker off the blade of Ryan Suzukovich. Cariboo forward Ty Kolle scored in the final frame but the Cougars couldn't get any closer. Cats goaltender Marcus Allen made 31 saves in the contest.
On Sunday, the Cougars had a 2-1 lead after the first period on goals by Jesse Pomeroy and Daine DuBois (both set up by Hunter Floris) but were blanked the rest of the way. Meanwhile, in the middle frame, the Chiefs came back with goals from Ethan Leyh and Logan Bromhead.
Mitchell Booth had opened the scoring for Vancouver Northeast in the first period.
Zach Wickson, who made 28 stops, took the loss in net.
The Cougars will be in Richmond this weekend for a BCHMML showcase event. They'll face the last-place South Island Royals (3-20-1-2) on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. Their next home games are Jan. 28-29 against the Thompson Blazers.
Tough weekend for Northern Capitals
The Northern Capitals picked up just one point of a possible six during a three-game series against the Thompson-Okanagan Lakers last weekend in Delta.
Entering the weekend, the teams were tied for second place in the B.C. Hockey Female Midget AAA League, and the Lakers - who have played three more games than the Capitals - now have second all to themselves.
The first game, played Friday, ended 3-1 in favour of the Lakers. On Saturday, the clubs battled to a 3-3 draw. And, in Sunday's finale, the Lakers pulled out a 1-0 win.
Danielle Corrigan scored the only goal for the Northern Capitals in the opener, while Jenna Fletcher, Sydney Neustaeter and Mairyn Tucker replied for the Lakers. Tucker's goal, scored on a power play with five seconds left, stood as the insurance marker after Corrigan had pulled the Capitals into a one-goal deficit with 5:31 to play.
On Saturday, the Northern Capitals outscored the Lakers 2-1 in the third period (goals by Jordan Shanks and Caily Mellott) to earn the tie. Wynona Creyke had the other goal for the Capitals. Laine Grace, Tucker and Chanreet Bassi provided the offence for the Lakers.
In the final game, Grace had the only goal, scored in the first period.
The Lakers moved to 8-7-6 on the season and the Capitals slipped to 8-8-2. The Caps are now four points back of the Lakers with those three games in hand.
The next action for the Northern Capitals is Feb. 3-5 at Kin 2 against the league-leading Greater Vancouver Comets, who have gone a perfect 21-0 so far this season.
