Coyote Colin Bell swoops in on Summerland goalie Matthew Huber in the second period of Friday night’s game. Huber thwarted Bell, just as the Steam foiled the Coyotes’ efforts to keep first place in their division. Summerland held the Coyotes to a 2-1 loss. (Richard McGuire photo)

The Osoyoos Coyotes are tied with the Summerland Steam for first place in the Okanagan Division after the Coyotes lost to the Steam on Friday, but went on to beat the Princeton Posse in overtime Saturday.

In Friday night’s battle for first place at the Sun Bowl Arena, Summerland defeated Osoyoos 2-1. This put the Steam ahead 41-39 points.

But Summerland didn’t play Saturday, so with the Coyotes’ 4-3 overtime win over Princeton, Osoyoos is now tied 41-41 with Summerland in Kootenay International Junior Hockey League standings. Both teams have now played 29 games.

Summerland plays the Posse on Tuesday in Princeton, giving the Steam another chance to regain the lead. And the Coyotes and Steam face each other again at the Sun Bowl on Friday, Dec. 29 in another battle for first place.

In Friday’s game, Osoyoos opened the scoring less than three minutes in with a power play goal by Carter Shannon, assisted by Cameron Welch and Judd Repole.

That was to be the only Coyote goal of the game.

Late in the second period with brothers Brandon and Connor Onstein both in the penalty box, Summerland scored just five seconds from the faceoff to tie the game.

A second Summerland power-play goal midway through the third period clinched the game for the Steam.

The Coyotes pulled goalie Daniel Paul for an extra attacker, but neither team managed to score.

In Saturday’s game, the Coyotes again led off the scoring with Connor Onstein getting the goal on a power play, assisted by Welch and Repole.

But the Coyotes faltered in the second period and seemed to have trouble controlling the puck. Princeton scored two goals while Osoyoos got none and the Posse outshot the Coyotes 16-11.

Tensions flared between the two teams several times in the penalty-filled second period. Sam Reinbolt and Nick Nordstrom of the Coyotes and Dawson Jenner and Drew Carter of the Posse all took game misconducts following fisticuffs.

In the third period, the Coyotes managed to recover, with Colin Bell scoring on a power play seven and a half minutes into the period. The two Carters – Robinson and Shannon – assisted.

Two minutes later, Hunter Johnson scored on another power play to put the Coyotes ahead 3-2. Jack McNamara and Connor Onstein assisted.

Then, with just over two minutes remaining in the third period, Lane French scored his second goal of the game for Princeton to tie the score at 3-3.

The overtime period only lasted 11 seconds as Shannon put the puck past Princeton goalie Danyon Lorencz to win the game 4-3. The lone assist went to Welch.

The two weekend games followed a Wednesday afternoon 5-1 Coyote victory in Princeton.

The Coyotes scored five goals before the Posse finally managed to get their only goal – a power play goal late in the third period.

Reinbolt and Repole both led the scoring with two goals each, one each unassisted.

Bell scored the other Coyote goal, the first goal of the game.

In addition to their next game against Summerland on Dec. 29, the Coyotes also play the North Okanagan Knights in an afternoon game on New Year’s Eve at the Sun Bowl Arena.

RICHARD McGUIRE

Osoyoos Times

Coyote Colin Bell swoops in on Summerland goalie Matthew Huber in the second period of Friday night’s game. Huber thwarted Bell, just as the Steam foiled the Coyotes’ efforts to keep first place in their division. Summerland held the Coyotes to a 2-1 loss. (Richard McGuire photo)

Coyote Colin Bell swoops in on Summerland goalie Matthew Huber in the second period of Friday night’s game. Huber thwarted Bell, just as the Steam foiled the Coyotes’ efforts to keep first place in their division. Summerland held the Coyotes to a 2-1 loss. (Richard McGuire photo)

Coyote Cameron Welch (no. 10) tries to knock the puck into the net as Princeton goalie Danyon Lorencz is caught out of position. Behind the net is Carter Shannon. The Coyotes failed to score in the second period of Saturday’s game, but they went on to beat Princeton 4-3 in overtime. (Richard McGuire photo)

Osoyoos Coyotes Carter Shannon (no. 9) and Brock Marple (no. 21) keep up the pressure on Princeton goalie Danyon Lorencz in the second period of Saturday night’s game. The Coyotes failed to score in that period, but they recovered in the third period to push the game into overtime. The final score was 4-3 for Osoyoos. (Richard McGuire photo)

Osoyoos Coyotes Hunter Johnson (left) and Connor Onstein (right) keep up the pressure on Princeton goalie Danyon Lorencz in the second period of Saturday night’s game. Behind the net is Sam Reinbolt. The Coyotes failed to score in that period, but they recovered in the third period to push the game into overtime. The final score was 4-3 for Osoyoos. (Richard McGuire photo)