For the fifth time this season, the Prince George Fortwood Homes Cougars placed in the top three of a hockey tournament.
The peewee tier 4 rep Cougars finished second at last weekend's tournament in Burns Lake after falling 4-2 to the Smithers Storm in Sunday's final. The Cougars have finished first or second three times this season and earned the bronze-medal position twice.
Despite falling behind 3-0 in Sunday's final, the Cougars showed their resilience with a pair of goals in the third period from Cole Johnston and Quinten Astorino to pull within one at 3-2 but the Storm iced the win with a goal in the final two minutes.
Cougars head coach Denny Astorino said he was happy with his team's effort.
"We battled hard but didn't get the breaks in the final," said Astorino. "Two forwards really stepped up and had their best weekends of the year - Nolan Dancey and Ashton Kraska. As a group, the more success the players have, the more confidence they get and it really shows. These boys are growing up through these experiences."
In the final, both Cougars goalies saw action with Nicholas Husband giving up three goals and Josh Fielding in the net for one.
Both the Storm and Cougars won their respective pools during round-robin play. The Storm finished the preliminary round with a 3-0 record while the Cougars were 1-0-2, tied with the Burns Lake Bruins and Prince Rupert Seawolves, but earned the top spot based on the tie-breaking formula of goals for, goals against and total penalty minutes.
Burns Lake won the bronze medal with a 3-2 win over Fraser Lake while Prince Rupert beat Vanderhoof 6-1 for fifth place. Terrace (0-3) and Houston (0-2-1) were eliminated after pool play.
The Cougars opened the tournament Friday with a 1-1 tie against Burns Lake and followed it up with a 1-1 tie against Prince Rupert. Dancey scored the only goal against the Seawolves.
Prince George earned their playoff berth when they blasted Terrace 12-0 in Sunday's final round-robin game. Zach Swanson notched the first four goals for the Cougars while Ashton Kraska and Ryan Hampe each potted a pair. Colin Desrocher, Dancey, Michael Rolfes and Johnston had singles. Swanson added four helpers for an eight-point game.
