Three regulation goals and a shootout marker from Sicamous Eagles forward Ethan Matiece wasn’t quite enough to lead his team past the 100 Mile House Wranglers Wednesday, Feb. 2.
The Wranglers were able to secure a 4-3 win over the Eagles in a six-round shootout that followed a scoreless overtime and hard-fought Kootenay International Junior Hockey League game.
Matiece opened the game’s scoring a minute-and-a-half into the second period, then struck again at its halfway point to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead. Both of Matiece’s goals were assisted by Dmitry Dyskin, with an additional assist from Griffin Heaney on the second goal.
The Wranglers would answer back before the period was over, when Bryce Burnett found the back of the net near the 13-minute mark, cutting the Eagles’ lead in half.
100 Mile House took a 3-2 lead in the third period thanks to a pair of goals from Jace Myers, the first of which came on a powerplay. However, Matiece played hero and tied the game with just three minutes. He completed his hat-trick with a goal that was assisted by Devin McNair.
The game then went to overtime but neither team scored, forcing a shootout.
Both teams’ goalies were strong as they faced down their first two opponents and no goals were scored. In the shootout’s third round, Matiece scored for the Eagles and Ethan Sanders scored for the Wranglers. The fourth and fifth rounds didn’t break the tie, but the sixth did. The Wranglers’ Finley Enns scored the winning goal, giving his team the extra point and breaking their 10-game losing streak.
With the overtime loss, the Eagles were 12-20-2-1 on the season as of Feb. 3.
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Do you have something else we should report on? Email: zachary.roman@saobserver.net
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