The Cariboo Cougars were aiming for an upset. The Valley West Hawks didn't let it happen.
In a best-of-three quarterfinal series, the Hawks beat the Cougars 4-3 and 5-2 and knocked them out of the B.C. Hockey Major Midget League playoffs. The games were played Friday and Saturday in Langley.
For the 15- to 17-year-old Cats, the losses ended a season of rebuilding. The team began the year with only a handful of MML veterans and that meant all the younger players were on a steep learning curve.
"Anything this year was a bonus," said head coach Bryan MacLean. "It was great to get to the Mac's [tournament in December in Calgary] and compete there and playoffs was a great experience. Obviously we wanted them to go longer."
MacLean said the Cougars will learn from the losses against the Hawks and use them as fuel for next season, when as many as 15 players could be back in uniform.
"I think they'll be a bit grumpy," he said of next season's returnees. "These guys want to win."
The Cougars, who went 17-21-2 during the regular season, entered playoffs as the sixth seed while the Hawks (27-11-2) were third.
In Friday's opener, the Cats had a 3-1 lead with 16 minutes left in the third period but couldn't hold on for the win. Valley West stormed back with a power-play goal by Davis Koch and even-strength markers by Ty Westgard and Matt Bradley. Bradley's winner came with just 31 seconds left on the clock. Koch finished the game with two goals and an assist.
The Cougars got their goals from Riley Pettitt, Bryan Allbee and Chase Dubois.
In Saturday's clincher, the Hawks led 2-1 after the first period and took control with two more goals in the second. Mitch Newsome scored twice for Valley West, which also got goals from Westgard, Spencer Gerth and Jamieson Ree. Thomas Webster and Pettitt responded for the Cats.
Saturday's game marked the end of the minor hockey careers of Pettitt, Webster, Cole Morris, Scott Cullen, Carson Stephen and Jeremy Matte.
In other quarterfinals held on the weekend, the favoured teams all advanced to the next round. The top-seeded Vancouver Northwest Giants beat the eighth-ranked South Island Royals 6-4 and 5-0, the second-ranked Okanagan Rockets downed the seventh-seeded Fraser Valley Thunderbirds 7-0 and 10-2 and the fourth-seeded Greater Vancouver Canadians went to three games to knock off the fifth-ranked Vancouver Northeast Chiefs. The Chiefs won the first game 7-2 but the Canadians answered back with 9-2 and 5-2 victories.
In the semifinals, which will start on Friday, the Giants will host the Canadians and the Rockets will welcome the Hawks.
The playoff champion will take on the Alberta winner in a Pacific regional series, which will serve as a qualifier for the Telus Cup nationals, April 21-27 in Moose Jaw, Sask.
