The BC Major Midget Kootenay Ice took four points from the South Island Royals at home on the weekend and they did it in dramatic fashion.
The Ice defeated the Royals by the same 3-1 score on both Saturday and Sunday at the Cominco Arena, except it took more than 59 minutes of play to decide Sunday’s match.
“The Royals they battled pretty hard,” said Kootenay Ice head coach Kris Boyce. “We started a little bit slow on Saturday, but as the game went on we got better. And today’s game was actually pretty back and forth, and pretty good hockey, so you have to give them credit.”
Kootenay forward Noah Quinn netted the game winner, scoring with just 45 seconds left in regulation to put Kootenay up 2-1. Ice captain Mason McLeod walked out of the corner and fired a shot at Royals goalie Connor Svienson, Quinn jumped on the rebound and lifted it in for the 15-year-old Nelson native’s first tally of the season, and one that couldn’t have come at a better time.
“Noah’s been a really good player for us, he’s a young kid, but you can tell he has so much talent on the ice,” said Boyce. “When you get him around the net with opportunities to score, he usually puts it in for you.”
The game was even through two periods with the Ice’s Kaleb Percival scoring at 9:06 for a 1-0 lead on a setup from Quinn and Dawson Reinfjell. However, six minutes later South Island tied it at 1-1, when Thomas Velja beat Ice goalie Charles Curiston with 3:17 remaining in the opening period.
After a tight-checking scoreless second period, Kootenay gave the Royals a prime opportunity to go ahead in the third, when Ice player Austin Mckenzie was assessed a five-minute major for boarding with 8:30 left on the clock. But the Ice’s penalty kill thwarted the South Island attack at every chance, keeping the shots to the perimeter, and, when they did get through, Curiston came up with a big save.
“It’s mainly what we work on in practice is our penalty kill,” said Boyce. “We practice it a lot and we pride ourselves on not letting the other teams score on their power plays.”
After the penalty expired, the Ice pressured for the go-ahead-goal, however, their defence got caught up ice. South Island cleared the puck to a wide-open forward, who went in all alone, and deked Curiston, but the Ice goalie just got a piece of it before it banked off the post and stayed out.
Quinn put the Ice on top a minute later, and Jaxson Waterstreet broke through the Royals defence and scored into an empty net with four seconds remaining for the 3-1 final.
On Saturday, Kootenay trailed 1-0 heading into the third, but goals from Caleb Goncalves and McLeod 14 seconds apart put the home team up 2-1 with 13:56 to play. Reinfjell netted an insurance marker at 6:41, and Tenzin Mint was solid in net for Kootenay.
Sunday’s win brings Kootenay’s record to 2-2-o-o, after falling twice to the defending champion Fraser Valley Thunderbirds in it’s opening matches last week.
Related read: Kootenay Ice fall to Thunderbirds
Kootenay plays the 3-1-0-0 Vancouver North West Hawks at the BCMML Showcase on the weekend at the Abbotsford Centre on Saturday at 11:15 a.m. and Sunday at 8:30 a.m.
“They’ll be strong, they usually have a couple guys that are high draft picks on their team, and a couple really good guys.”
The Ice return home Saturday Oct. 13-14 when they host the North Island Silvertips.
