Wednesday, Marcy 8
A goal scored by Quinn Rempel late in the third period was all the Sicamous Eagles could offer home fans Thursday night in Game 3 of the division finals versus the North Okanagan Knights.
Not that Sicamous made the win easy for their Armstrong rivals. The two markers the Knights won with came in the first half of period one. After that, there was no give from either team until Rempel’s goal, assisted by Brad Crump at 5:41 in the third.
Game 4 is tonight in Sicamous, 7 p.m. game time.
Wednesday, Marcy 6
The Eagles are now down two games in the division finals versus the North Okanagan Knights.
While the Sicamous team managed a few more shots on net than their Armstrong hosts Tuesday night (March 5), the Knights were able to earn a 4-3 win in this tightly-matched contest.
Scoring didn’t occur until the last six minutes of the first frame, with a marker by the Knight’s Brandon Shirley. At 2:01, Cam Olson converted the power play into a goal for Sicamous, assisted by Steven Powers. And at :53, Brayden Taekema added a second goal for Sicamous, assisted by Jamie Gallo, giving the Eagles a 2-1 lead going into the second period.
Between the second and third periods, the Knights were able to tie things up and take a 4-2 lead. Sicamous’ third goal, by Cam Olson, was squeaked in in the last six seconds of the game, off of Jordan Harder and Brendan Devries.
The series comes to Sicamous Thursday night, and continues Friday night.
Monday, March 4
The Eagles may have met their match in the North Okanagan Knights
Sicamous suffered a frustrating 5-6 overtime defeat Monday night at the hands of their Armstrong hosts in game one of the division finals.
The Knights were strong throughout the first and second periods, letting in single Sicamous markers in each. The first was by Brendan Devries, assisted by Jordan Harder and Brayden Taekema. Corbin Marcotte potted the second, assisted by Cameron Berry and Brad Crump.
By the end of the second period, the Eagles were trailing 5-2. But the team turned things around in the third period. Jordan Harder put in his second goal of the night, aided by Taekema. Devries put in his second goal later in the frame, assisted by Crump and Taekema. And at 1:22, Marcotte put in his second goal, assisted by Alex Dartnall and Berry. Sicamous had three tries on net in overtime, but the Knights took the win.
Game two in this series is Tuesday night, after press time.
The relatively short division semifinal series versus the Revelstoke Grizzlies concluded with two decisive wins for Sicamous.
On Feb. 26, at the Revelstoke Forum, the Grizzlies suffered a 6-2 defeat to the dominating Eagles – much to the chagrin of fans, some of whom tossed the beer cups at the Sicamous team as they left the ice.
Scoring started late in the first frame, with Taekema lighting up the board at 7:51, his goal assisted by Harder and Devries.
Minutes later, Devries added an unassisted marker. And, with four seconds left in the period, Quinn Rempel added a third goal for Sicamous, assisted by Dominick Hodges and Cam Olson.
The only goal in the second frame was by Taekema, assisted by Jameson Stoski and Devries.
Sicamous’ remaining markers were scored in the first half of the third period, by Nathan Grieve (assisted by Rempel), and Nicholas Astasiewicz (Michael Bell and Crump).
Game five, the last in the series, saw the Eagles take the division semifinal with a 5-2 win on home ice.
Throughout the first period, the Eagles were clearly running rings around the Grizzlies, though putting the puck between the pipes was still no easy task. That said, Marcotte received the biscuit from Devon Quartly, and at 12:20 in the first period, sent it flying past Grizzlies netminder Conrad McMillan. Next came a skillfully delivered unassisted goal by Devries.
The Grlizzlies’ momentum picked up somewhat on a power play early in the second frame during which the Revelstoke team put in the first of two goals. The second was delivered by Brayden Beckley at 13:24, increasing tension levels among the home-team fans. But by the 10-minute mark, the Grizzlies were running on fumes, while the Eagles were still going strong. At 3:39, Devries broke the tie with a goal, assisted by Marcotte. Hodges added another goal at 1:39, off of Rempel and Grieve. And with the Sicamous crowd already feeling the win, Taekema, with nine seconds left on the clock, potted goal number five for the Eagles.
By the third period, things seemed sluggish. The Eagles still managed more shots on net, but neither team could ripple the mesh.
Devries was named the game’s first star and Taekema third.
