The Okanagan College Coyotes kept their grip on second place in the BCIHL by collecting three out of a possible four points in league play over the last two weekends. The Coyotes record currently sits at 11-4-3 for a total of 25 points, with 6 regular season games remaining before the playoff tournament in mid-March.
The Coyotes took their 'A' game to Burnaby on January 28th in a tilt that would turn into an instant classic between the then-undefeated Simon Fraser University Clan and the second place Coyotes.
"I was told by fans and SFU staff that the game was by far the best display they had seen this season," said Coyotes coach Kim Barnstable. "And I wouldn’t argue that point."
The teams finished the game tied 3-3 in a well played, fast paced game in front of roughly 900 fans at the Bill Copeland Arena in Burnaby.
The Coyotes received goals from Chris Glen, Layne Stopanski and Kelowna product Aaron Buat. Buat and Glen currently share the Coyotes scoring lead. Buat deposited a loose puck in the top of the net to tie the score at 3 with just five minutes left in the game.
"I thought our guys played an excellent game and were very focused on doing what we had practiced and planned to do. SFU has very skilled forwards and they will make you pay for mistakes or breakdowns in coverage. We are definitely beat up on defense right now, but our group worked extremely hard and I was happy with our total team effort," says team leader Buat.
With the tie the Coyotes picked up their first regular season point against the perennial powerhouse SFU. This past Saturday the Okanagan College squad travelled to the Lower Mainland again this time to play the sixth place Trinity Western Spartans at the Langley Events Center.
"It wasn’t anything like the SFU game," explained OC G.M. Kolby Barnstable. "Our first period was not pretty and Sunny Gill made some terrific saves to keep the contest at 1-1 after the first."
Westside minor hockey product James Neitsch scored in the final minute of the period and the Coyotes found their stride in the second period as they scored 3 goals in the last 2 minutes to take a 5-2 lead into the third.
From there the Coyotes were able to push the pace in the third period and add four more goals to the total, finishing with a 9-3 victory.
"It was great to see guys like Lyndon Dyas (Kelowna native), Tison Schoenthal and Kyle L'Arrivee get rewarded for their hard work," said coach Barnstable. "These guys compete for every inch on the ice and have worked very hard for us over the past few games. It was nice to see some pucks go in for them in the Trinity game. Receiving contributions from everyone is key to our success in the long run."
The Coyotes head on the road again next weekend as they travel to Castlegar to take on the Selkirk College Saints. Okanagan College then returns home for games on the 17th and 18th against Trinity Western and Simon Fraser University respectively at Memorial Arena.
"We are working very hard to improve our game and believe we can win a championship if we keep progressing and executing our game plan," says the coach. "We are far from healthy and can easily make excuses that we have lost too many players to be able to compete with the league's top teams. But we have progressed as a group, we're hungry to compete for a championship, and feel that on paper we're as good as anyone in the BCIHL."
VICTORIA
SIMON FRASER
OKANAGAN
LOGAN LAKE
VANCOUVER ISLAN.
