It only takes one more goal to win.
This is something this year’s Sicamous Eagles roster likely won’t forget after being knocked out of the KIJHL division finals by the North Okanagan Knights.
The Knights succeeded by being one goal ahead in all four games of this series, including a 6-5 overtime win, followed by tallies of 4-3, 2-1 and 2-1.
Game 4 in the series, played in Sicamous, began with a scoreless first frame. The Eagles were getting the opportunities – almost three times as many as the Knights – but could not put the puck past the pipes.
The Knights played harder in the second period, and were rewarded with a two-goal lead going into the third frame.
Sicamous seemed to have the strength advantage in the third period, but could only turn that into a single marker, scored by Cameron Berry off of Jameson Stoski.
Berry was named the game’s third stare, while Sicamous netminder Kris Joyce was named second star.
A goal scored by Quinn Rempel late in the third period was all the Sicamous Eagles could offer hometown fans Thursday night in Game 3 of the division finals versus the North Okanagan Knights.
Not that Sicamous made the win easy for their Armstrong rivals. The two markers the Knights won with came in the first half of period one. After that, there was no give from either team until Rempel’s goal, assisted by Brad Crump at 5:41 in the third.
While the Sicamous team managed a few more shots on net than their Armstrong hosts in Game 2, the Knights were able to earn a 4-3 win in this tightly matched contest.
Scoring didn’t occur until the last six minutes of the first frame, with a marker by the Knight’s Brandon Shirley. At 2:01, Cam Olson converted the power play into a goal for Sicamous, assisted by Steven Powers. And at :53, Brayden Taekema added a second goal for Sicamous, assisted by Jamie Gallo, giving the Eagles a 2-1 lead going into the second period.
Between the second and third periods, the Knights were able to tie things up and take a 4-2 lead. Sicamous’ third goal, by Cam Olson, was squeaked in in the last six seconds of the game, off of Jordan Harder and Brendan Devries.
