It was another perfect weekend for the Cariboo Cougars as they swept another opponent.
The Cougars (6-0) earned the sweep of the Vancouver NE Chiefs (2-3-1) when rookie Brad Morrison scored a power-play goal with 22 seconds left Sunday at CN Centre to earn the 5-4 win and remain undefeated on the B.C. Major Midget League season. On Saturday the Cougars special teams came through with a pair of power-play goals and a five-on-three shorthanded marker in a 4-0 win.
It was the third straight weekend the Cougars earned both wins against an opponent and they're one of only three undefeated teams in the BCMML. The Okanagan Rockets (4-0-1) are in second place while the Vancouver NW Giants (4-0) are third after having last weekend off.
Cariboo led 3-2 after 40 minutes on a pair of goals from Braiden Epp and Tyler Povelofskie's first of the game. Povelofskie gave the Cougars a 4-2 lead with a shorthanded goal midway through the third period, but the Chiefs responded 30 seconds later to pull back within one at 4-3.
Colten Kehler potted his second goal of the game to tie it at 4-4 with 3:15 left to play. Tim Chow had a goal and an assist for the Chiefs while Kurt Sonne had the other goal.
Kirk Hards had three assists for the Cougars while Liam Blackburn had two helpers.
Jeremy Matte earned the win while Nick McBride took the loss in the nets. On Saturday it was Nathan Warren picking up the 33-save shutout while the Chiefs Jeffrey Smith faced 37 shots in the loss.
Stephen Penner, captain Ryan Forbes, Brad Morrison and Liam Blackburn had the second-period goals in Saturday's game. The Cougars out-shot the Chiefs 17-9 in the middle frame.
In the final period the Chiefs piled the shots (18) on Warren due to the Cats' inability to stay out of the penalty box. The Cougars took 19 minor penalties and a 10-minute misconduct Saturday. The discipline improved slightly Sunday as the Cats were penalized for 10 minors and one 10-minute misconduct.
Cougars coach Trevor Sprague said the number of penalties Saturday didn't really reflect the game his team played.
"I don't think that was all us," said Sprague. "We played a very good disciplined hockey game. We finished our checks but our guys showed a lot of character in that we may have other things stacked against us but we had great character. We moved on from it and we won a hockey game."
Chiefs forward Matt Barzal, the first-overall pick of the Seattle Thunderbirds in the 2012 WHL bantam draft left Saturday's game after 40 minutes and didn't dress Sunday. A member of the Chiefs staff said the 15-year-old suffered a concussion when he smashed his face into the goal post late in the second period and was taken to UHNBC during the intermission. Later Barzal joined his teammates at Saturday night's WHL game in Prince George.
