Dillon Krahn scored the overtime winner against Kelowna to give the Coast Inn of the North midget Tier 1 Cougars a 4-3 victory in the championship final at a tournament in Kamloops last weekend.
Kelowna, the defending provincial Tier 1 champion, skated to an early 2-0 lead, but Prince George rebounded to take a 3-2 lead. Kelowna tied the game with 10 minutes left in regulation and the two squads advanced to a five-minute, four-on-four overtime period.
"It was a really good hockey game - both of these teams were in the provincial final last year," said Cougars head coach Rob Millar. "We always have close games [with Kelowna] and they're competitive."
The Cougars' tournament victory capped a weekend where the squad posted an undefeated round-robin record with wins against Nanaimo (5-2), Burnaby Winter Club (9-3) and Fort St. John (4-1). The Cats tied Kelowna 1-1.
Prince George edged Kamloops 4-3 in the semifinal.
Game MVPs were: Isaiah Berra, Jordan Waterston, Chris Metcalfe, James Gordon, Jamie Ferguson and Krahn.
"We had contributions from all of our lines and everyone on the entire team scored," said Millar. "Each goalie played three games and rotated back and forth."
The Cougars are a relatively veteran team with seven third-year players, five second-years and seven first-years.
They have this weekend off prior to a three-game road trip where they'll face Kelowna on Oct. 24-25 and Vernon later on Oct. 25.
