The Northland Dodge Northern Female Midget AAA Cougars swept a three-game home stand against the visiting West Coast Avalanche in Prince George last weekend.
Both teams were in a battle for second place, but with the three wins, the Cougars are now all alone in second place with a 12-5-5 record and 29 points in the six-team B.C. Hockey Female Major Midget League. The Avalanche now fall to fourth place with a record of 10-10-4 and 24 points.
The Cougars edged the Avalanche 4-3 Sunday morning at CN Centre in a nail-biter from start to finish.
After a scoreless first period, the Avalanche capitalized on a sluggish start of the second frame by the Cougars and scored two goals in the first three minutes.
The Cougars finally responded with a pair of goals late in the period by assistant captain Tessa Hare and Cassidy Mellot to tie the game.
Taylor Beck gave the Cougars their first lead of the game early in the third period, but the Avalanche immediately evened it up.
Jocelyn Forrest scored the winner with eight minutes left, due to the hard work by Hunter Mosher and Kyrsten Franz. Prince George hung on for the remainder of the game for the win. Netminder Kelsey Roberts put in a strong performance between the pipes to pick up the win.
On Saturday night, the Cougars downed the Avalanche 3-1 in a close game as they carried the overall play. Sage Desjardins had a strong three-point peformance while Franz and Beck netted the other goals. Goalie Avery Quiring had a solid performance in net.
The Cougars opened their home-stand Friday with a 4-1 victory over the Avalanche in a closer game than the score indicated.
The Avalanche tallied their lone goal of the game halfway through the first period, but the Cougars responded with goals by captain Ava Keis and assistant captain Madison Fjellstrom late in the frame.
Defenceman Chantelle Beadman-Rolph increased the Cougars' lead in the second period and Hare added an empty-netter at the end of the third period.
Roberts had a strong game in the crease to earn the victory.
The Cougars are now enjoying a break for the next two weeks and return to the ice in Langley Feb. 7-10.
