Minor Midget Cougars clinch regular season title

The Cariboo Minor Midget Cougars took on the Vancouver North West Hawks on Sunday morning in Kin 2 to close out their regular season.

The Cats got on the board first with Maxwell Sanford tickling the twine just 1:43 into the first frame. Linden Makow made it 2-0 for the Cougars when he broke in alone shorthanded and sniped one top shelf with 8:58 left in the period. Vancouver's Memphis Steffensen brought the Hawks back within one when he potted a goal one minute and thirty-two seconds later with 7:26 left in the first. Hawks' Dominic Payne tied the game 2-2 with his goal coming with 4:27 left in the period. Cariboo's Maxwell Sanford scored his second goal of the game 6:53 into the second period and that was all the Cats needed as the buzzer sounded on a 3-2 win to clinch the Minor Midget AAA regular season league title.

Jasper Tait got the start in net for the Cougars and turned aside 22 of the 24 shots he faced while Shayan Kermany got the nod for the Hawks and made 28 stops on 32 shots he faced.

The Cougars will open up the first round of the playoffs next weekend at home with a best-of-three series against the North Island Silvertips. Game one is scheduled for 6:15 p.m. on Friday, March 6 and game two is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 7. Game three, if needed, will take place on Sunday, March 8 with puck drop set for 8:15 a.m. All three games will be played in Kin 2.