Riley Dreskin has never been so relieved to see a puck miss the net.
It was one save the Prince George Coast Inn of the North Cougars goaltender did not have to make Wednesday with 11 seconds left in a 5-5 game and a Semiahmoo shooter perfectly set up at close range for a potential gamewinner.
"It was a one-timer from the slot and they shot it wide, and we ended up getting the tie to go to the final," said Cougars manager Brian Hards.
The tie left the Cougars with a 2-0-3 record and they advanced to the B.C midget Tier 1 provincial championship in North Vancouver late Wednesday night against the Kelowna Rockets. Results of the final were not available at press time.
Austin Gray scored twice for Prince George in the morning tie with Semiahmoo, while Thane Anderson, Justin Hards and Brayden Dale also scored for the Cougars. Semiahamoo's Oliver Allcock tied the game with 28 seconds left.
Three teams were in the hunt for a berth into the championship game. Had the Cougars defeated Semiahmoo they would have advanced against Hollyburn (3-1-1). If the Cougars had lost, Hollyburn would have played Kelowna (2-0-3) in the final.
In 11 previous meetings this season with Kelowna, the defending provincial Tier 1 midget champions, the Cougars compiled a 7-2-2 record. The Ron Powar-coached Cougars tied Kelowna 1- 1 in their second game in the round-robin.
In their other tournament results, Prince George beat Hollyburn 6-1, then beat Juan de Fuca 4-3 and tied North Vancouver 2-2.
Prince George won the 2012 Tier 1 midget championship.
Meanwhile in Surrey, the Prince George Scotiabank female Cougars defeated South Island 3-0 to improve to 2-1-2 but won't be advancing to today's final. The Cougars finish up today at 2 p.m. against Surrey. Richmond (4-0-1) will play either Surrey or North Shore for the championship.
The Prince George Premium Truck & Trailer Cougars (0-2-1) finished seventh at the eight-team midget Tier 2 provincial final in Penticton. The Cougars ended their tournament Tuesday with a 4-2 loss to Ridge Meadows.
At the seven-team Tier 1 peewee provincial championship in Vancouver, the Prince George Viking Construction Cougars lost 13-2 Wednesday to Burnaby to drop to 1-4-0. The Cougars wind up their tournament today at 11 a.m. against Kelowna.
In the Tier 4 peewee final in Richmond, the Prince George Cougars (0-4-0) took on North Shore in the late game Wednesday, still looking for their first win. Burns Lake (3-1-0) was still in the hunt for the B.C. title when they played Seafair Wednesday evening.
In today's games, Revelstoke plays Burns Lake at 8 a.m., and Prince George faces Elk Valley at 2 p.m. The final is set for tonight at 8 p.m.
