The message Cariboo Cougars head coach Bryan MacLean has for his players this weekend is simple: play hard for a full 60 minutes and good things will happen.
As the Cougars prepare to hit the road for a third straight weekend, MacLean said his team can't afford to take a shift off as they carry a four-game losing streak into a two-game set against the Valley West Hawks in Langley.
"For us it's sticking to what we do good for 60 minutes and we did it for 40 last weekend," MacLean said. "At this point in the season that's not good enough so we should be really motivated going in there this weekend."
The four straight losses have dropped the Cougars from fourth place in the BC Major Midget League to ninth, but with a 8-11-1 record they're still only four points out of that fourth spot. The Hawks are 14-6-0 on the year and sit in third place.
As the Cougars embark on the second half of their schedule, MacLean said the goal is to be a hard team to play against, something they've shown signs of in recent weeks despite the losses.
All four of the Cougars losses on the current skid have come against the top two teams in the league and Cariboo was close in all but one of those contests.
"We've played two tough teams, but at the same time I think we were good enough to win some of those games," MacLean said.
The Hawks beat the Cougars twice in Prince George earlier this year. This weekend's set begins Saturday at 12:15 p.m. at the Langley Sportsplex. They finish up on Sunday at 9:15 a.m.
