The Kerry Park Islanders have dug themselves quite a hole.
Battling the powerhouse Victoria Cougars in opening-round Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League playoff action, the Isles dropped the first three games of their best-of-seven series.
They hope to remain alive in Game 4 Tuesday night.
Kerry Park has not defeated Victoria since March of 2012.
In Game 1, Victoria got two goals from Nathan Looysen in an easy 5-1 win. Brett Lervold, Austin Wilk and Ryan Lawson also scored for the winners, who outshot Kerry Park 40-17.
Keenan Eddy scored the lone Islanders goal, with Chase Anderson making 35 saves in goal.
Saturday in Kerry Park, the Cougars broke open a close game in the third period, scoring three times on 24 shots in a 6-2 win.
Looysen again led the Cougar attack with two goals and two assists, with Cody Hodges (2), Kenny Britton and John Kretzschmar also scoring.
Zach Smith and David Bittner scored for Kerry Park.
Anthony Ciurro made 26 saves for the netminding win.
In Game 3 at Archie Browning Arena, the Isles led 1-0 late in the second period, before giving up three goals in just over two minutes in a 4-1 loss. Kyle Green staked the locals to the 1-0 lead in the first period, but Ryan Carson, Lervold and Bryton Beattie scored in a space of 124 seconds for Victoria.
Looysen added an empty-net goal with 10 seconds to play.
Goalie Ty Rennie was outstanding for Kerry Park, making 40 saves.
