Looking to solidify their hold on second place in the ultra-competitive BCIHL standings, the Okanagan College Coyotes fought to a hotly-contested split of their weekend series against interior rivals Thompson Rivers University this weekend.
The Coyotes headed to Kamloops on Friday night to face the third place Wolfpack and utilized a Layne Stopanski hat-trick to help register their first win ever on TRU's home ice in a come-from-behind effort.
The following evening, this time hosting the Wolfpack at Kelowna’s Memorial Arena, the Coyotes fell by an identical 4-3 score to the visitors, keeping their lead on the TRU squad at four points exiting the weekend.
On Friday, having never registered a victory on Thompson Rivers’ home ice, the Coyotes were attempting to break a streak of less than stellar performances against the dangerous Wolfpack, a team that has played in the championship game in each of the past two BCIHL campaigns.
Riding an 8-1-2 streak over their past eleven games, the OC team was confident in the things that had brought them much success thus far in the season.
“Not all of our wins have been pretty, or exactly how we drew them up, but we have been playing for eachother and that seems to be working,” said Stopanski, a first year winger out of Trail, B.C. “We felt confident heading into their building, and knew from our last game with them that we could dictate play if we stuck to our gameplan.”
But the Coyotes found themselves in an early hole after surrendering a pair of first period goals. A Miles Houston marker late in the period drew the deficit to one, but the Wolfpack again stretched their lead to two midway through the second period.
Facing an uphill battle, it was Stopanski who appeared to elevate his game to an elite level, drawing the Coyotes closer with a goal to close out the second period and another to tie the game early in the third. He then rounded out his natural hat-trick off a pass from newcomer Pat Martin on a late powerplay, putting the Coyotes ahead 4-3 and sucking the energy out of the Kamloops arena. Behind Sunny Gill’s 38 saves the Coyotes were able to weather the storm late in the final period, and hold on for the win.
“We never felt out of the game,” said Stopanski after the win. “I think this team has that quality where we feel we are never facing a challenge we can’t overcome.”
When asked about his natural hat-trick, Stopanski was quick to focus more on his team’s effort level and ability to raise their game when needed most.
“It was nice to be able to help the boys out tonight, but I think we all know we are making it hard on ourselves, giving up early leads like tonight. This league is full of guys who have played Jr. before and have been through battles, so we need to find a way to play our game for sixty minutes.”
The Coyotes would try to do just that the following evening in the second half of the home-and-home series with the Wolfpack travelling to Memorial Arena and looking to return the favour from the previous night.
Unfortunately, the Coyotes appeared sluggish and were unable to generate much momentum for most of the first two periods of play. Down 3-1, the Coyotes seemed out of sync and were often caught out of position, leaving goaltender Sunny Gill to make a number of tremendous saves to keep the game close. While the shots seemed comparable between the two teams, the scoring chances strongly favoured the Wolfpack, leaving Okanagan in need of another third period comeback.
This time however, the Coyotes were unable to complete another third period rally. Allowing a fourth TRU goal proved to be too much, as late Coyote goals from Kyle L’Arrivee and Sean Mulcahy were not enough to close the gap, the score ending 4-3 in favour of TRU.
“We again had a great third period, but we have to find a way to not get behind the eight ball,” said Barnstable. “Undoubtedly this team has a special quality where we find ways to win late in games, but if we are going to fulfill our goal of winning the BCIHL championshipxwe need a full sixty minute effort.”
The Coyotes continue their pursuit of their first BCIHL title this Saturday, when they visit the undefeated Simon Fraser University Clan.
VICTORIA
SIMON FRASER
OKANAGAN
LOGAN LAKE
VANCOUVER ISLAN.
