Isaiah Berra was the overtime hero as the Prince George secondary Polars battled back from a three-goal deficit to down the College Heights Cougars 7-6 in the 10th annual Spirit of Hockey and Community Cup game between the two high schools.
The Polars hold a 7-3 advantage in Spirit Cup wins though for most of Friday's game at CN Centre it appeared the Cougars would close the gap in front of more than 1,500 raucous fans. Daylon Oullette notched a hat trick as the Cougars took a 5-2 advantage into the final 20 minutes but the Polars chipped away as Blake Brenton and Liam Loring pulled their squad to within a goal at 5-4.
Oullette beat Polars goalie Keenan Kershaw with his third goal of the game to give the Cougars a 6-4 lead, but the Polars continued to press eventually scoring a pair of goals seconds apart by Tristan Dean and Megan Hickey to tie the game at 6-6 and force the extra five minutes.
The Cougars held a 2-0 lead after the first period on goals from Jordan Heer and Braydon Dyck. In the middle frame the teams combined for five goals as Jared Young pulled the Polars within one at 2-1 early in the period but the Cougars responded with two quick goals of their own to go up 4-1. Oullette scored his first of the night followed by Tanner Riplinger. Dean notched his first of the game to pull the Polars back within two goals at 4-2 but before the period was done Oullette struck again.
Other players for the Cougars in the game were Kyle Apolzer, Troy Prince, Alex Hinsche, Nathan Power, Jordan Waterston, Riley Paschal, Gavin Sandhu, Cole Power, Cameron Galloway, Ryan Murphy, Bailey Mcfaul, and Parker Jamieson.
Students suiting up for the Polars included Gage Washylyshen, Eric Woelki, Corey Faucher, Nicolas Clifford, Joel Robinson, Kiana Wilkinson, Pierce Watson, Josh Goyer, Blair Scott, Trevor Clark and Markus Plamandon.
