The South Okanagan Midget rep team (in white jerseys) faced the Westside Warriors in semi-final action at Sun Bowl Arena on February 7. Two players scramble for the puck in front of the Warriors’ net.
LYONEL DOHERTY
The peewee, bantam and midget rep league champions from the South Okanagan Minor Hockey Association (SOMHA) have continued their winning ways in the playoffs.
All three continued their winning ways last week in the Okanagan Mainline Amateur Hockey Association (OMAHA) playoffs, with one team already advancing to the OMAHA final series.
In the peewee division, the South Okanagan Junior Coyotes, fresh off a two-game sweep of Salmon Arm in the first round which saw them outscore their opponent 19-1, opened the second round with an easy 5-0 victory over Winfield in a game played Sunday in Osoyoos.
The teams will meet back in Winfield this coming Saturday, Feb. 14 in game two in the best-of-three series.
If necessary, the third game goes Sunday, Feb. 15 here in Osoyoos.
In the bantam division, South Okanagan has advanced to the next round of the OMAHA playoffs.
South Okanagan opened its second round playoff series with a 4-0 shutout of Kamloops Saturday at the Sun Bowl Arena.
German Barhona earned the shutout, while Levi Holz scored a pair of goals. Jack Fortune and Brandon Della Paolera added one each.
“The kids played a good game,” said head coach Brock Anderson. “They really worked hard and deserved the victory.”
South Okanagan then wrapped up the series with a 4-3 overtime win in Kamloops Sunday.
“We started the game very slow and sluggish and got into penalty trouble through out the game, which didn’t help us,” offered Anderson when assessing his team’s play. “And Kamloops battled hard as it was do or die for them.”
South Okanagan trailed in the third period, but tied the game up with a late tally from Justin Davis.
Overtime produced back and forth hockey with Della Paolera scoring the overtime winner five minutes into the first overtime period.
Jacob Vautour and Seth Kriese scored the other South Okanagan goals.
“Kamloops is a good team that works hard and our boys knew if we didn’t show up to play and went off the game plan, we wouldn’t succeed,” added Anderson. “Our boys are excited about getting out of the second round, but know we need to keep working hard and improving if we want to make it through the next round.”
South Okanagan now has a date in the OMAHA championship series and will face the winner of the series between Kelowna and Winfield.
In the midget division, South Okanagan captured the opening game in its best-of-three series with a 4-3 win over West Kelowna Saturday in Osoyoos.
“Our team had a very strong first period playing, most of the 20 minutes in West Kelowna’s end,” said South Okanagan head coach Ryan Miller. “We used a strong forecheck to end the first period with a 2-0 lead.”
Josh Windley opened the scoring for South Okanagan with a power play goal, while Levi Harris added the second goal.
West Kelowna was more determined in the second and third period.
A second-period tally from Keenan Holz gave South Okanagan a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes, but West Kelowna tied the game up with less then five minutes remaining in the third to send it into overtime.
“We played 10 minutes of sudden death at the end of the third. Then we had an ice clean and went into a second overtime period of 20, which was still sudden death. Levi Harris netted his second goal of the game half way through the second overtime to give us the win,” added Miller. “Tristan Baptiste-Hall played goal and made many key saves, especially at the end of the third and in the first overtime period to shut down West Kelowna and help win back the momentum of the game to back stop us to our first playoff win. Our boys did a great job to rally back after losing the momentum during the second period. They stayed positive and kept on playing as a team unit to persevere and come out on top in a tough fought game.”
The teams meet again Saturday, Feb. 14 in West Kelowna. If a third game is needed, it will be played Sunday, Feb. 15 at 1 p.m. at the Sun Bowl Arena.
DALE CORY
Special to the Times
