Three of their top players were on assignment with Team B.C. but the Northern Capitals still had enough depth and firepower to win two of three weekend games against the Vancouver Island Seals.
Playing at the Kin Centre, the Capitals edged the Seals 3-2 on Friday, lost 2-0 on Saturday and prevailed 5-2 on Sunday.
In the U18 female division of the BC Elite Hockey League, the Caps improved to 9-5-0-1 and moved past the idle Fraser Valley Rush (8-0-0-0) into first place in the standings. The Seals slipped to 6-7-0-0.
The Capitals were missing Keagan Goulet, Brooklyn Hutchings and Hailey Armstrong, all of whom helped B.C. claim gold at the Western Regional Women’s Under-18 Championship in Portage la Prairie, Man.. In Saturday’s final, Armstrong scored the game-winner in a 3-2 overtime victory against Alberta.
Goulet is from Fort St. John, Hutchings hails from Prince George and Armstrong is a Dawson Creek product.
Goulet has already committed to play for the University of Calgary Dinos and Hutchings has signed with the Trinity Western University Spartans. Armstrong is one year younger and has not yet committed to a university program. She leads the BCEHL U18 female scoring race with 20 points (10 goals, 10 assists) in 20 games.
In Friday’s Capitals-Seals game, Ella Boon scored the winner with 9:07 left to play. The goal was Boon’s second of the contest. Camryn Ward also scored for the Caps, who led 1-0 after the first period and were in a 2-2 tie after the second.
Sierra Eagles was the winning goaltender.
After coming up empty in Saturday’s rematch, the Northern Capitals found their offence on Sunday. Goal-scorers in that one were Ward, Maria Ayre, Lindsey Goncalves, Knyla Evans and Kasey Ditner into an empty net. Karsyn Niven picked up the win between the pipes.
The Capitals will be in Richmond this coming weekend for a pair of games against the Greater Vancouver Comets (0-10-0-0).
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The Greater Vancouver Canadians posted back-to-back shutouts against the Cariboo Cougars during weekend play in the U18 division of the BC Elite Hockey League.
On the ice in Richmond, the Canadians downed the Cougars 4-0 on Saturday and 3-0 on Sunday.
With the results, the third-place Canadians elevated their record to 10-4-0-0 and the eighth-place Cats dropped to 5-7-1-1.
The Cougars now have a break until Nov. 20-21 when they host the Vancouver Northeast Chiefs, who are currently in second place in the division with a 10-2-1-1 record.
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The U17 Cariboo Cougars skated to lopsided victories against the North Island Silvertips on Saturday and Sunday in Richmond.
In the BC Elite Hockey League contests, the Cats won 7-1 in the opener and 5-0 in the rematch.
On Saturday, Colton Hotte paced the Cougars offensively with two goals. Garrett Feeney, Declan Pocock, Carter Boomer, Antony Duhamel and Blake Pigeon also scored, and Brock Minaker had two assists.
Brady MacKay was the winning goaltender.
On Sunday, Ben Delisi earned the shutout for the Cougars while Hunter Potskin, Isaiah Bagri, Kade Lawlor, Jayden Cunningham and Minaker took care of the scoring.
The seventh-place Cougars bumped their record to 4-5-0-1 and the ninth-place Silvertips fell to 2-10-0-0.
The Cougars will look for more success when they take on the Greater Vancouver Canadians on Saturday (2:15 p.m.) and Sunday (8:15 a.m.) at Kin 1. The Canadians are one of the elite teams in the division.
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The U15 Cariboo Cougars put up a good fight against one of the top teams in the division but came away empty-handed.
In BC Elite Hockey League play, the Cougars were in Richmond for weekend games against the Greater Vancouver Canadians and lost 3-0 on Saturday and 3-1 on Sunday. Jeremy Higginson had the lone goal for the Cats.
In the nets, Cariboo goaltender Kaleb Miller was outstanding in both games.
The Canadians are now 7-1-1-1 on the season, while the Cougars sit at 3-7-0-2.
The Cougars will be home to the Vancouver Northeast Chiefs this coming weekend. Games are set for 5 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. on Sunday, both at Kin 1.
