The Cariboo Cougars rallied in the third period with a pair of late goals for a 5-4 victory over the South Island Royals Sunday in Victoria.
The Cougars trailed 2-1 after 20 minutes and 3-2 after 40 minutes before defencemen Connor MacEachern and Joel Patsey each scored in the last two minutes to lift them to their third-straight win in the B.C. Hockey Major Midget League.
They're now 25-4-1 on the year and remain in first place in the league with 51 points.
The Royals fell to 13-4-2.
"I think we showed a lot of resilience today, having to score two goals in the last two minutes is never easy, but we worked hard enough and long enough to find a way to win," said Cougars coach Bryan MacLean.
MacEachern tied the game 4-4 with 1:56 to play and Patsey (his second goal of the game) potted the winner with just 1:42 on the clock.
The Cougars took advantage of some late South Island penalties and their power play converted at a crucial time to secure the victory and the weekend sweep.
"It was also nice to see our power play click late in the game when we needed goals," MacLean said.
Wesley Shipton and Austin Gray also scored for the Cougars. Gray also pitched in with a pair of assists, including on the game-winner.
"You have to give South Island a lot of credit, they executed their game plan well and slowed our speed down," MacLean said.
The Cougars shut out the Royals 4-0 Saturday.
Steven Jandric, Justin Almeida, Gray and Darren Hards provided the offence for the Cougars.
The Cougars are participating in the second B.C. Major Midget League Showcase weekend in Richmond next weekend where they'll battle the fifth-place Valley West Hawks.
