Mission City Outlaws closed out their season this weekend on a high note with a pair of wins at the Mission Leisure Centre.
Friday nights’ game saw seven Outlaws receive multiple points in an 11-2 victory against last place Surrey Knights in the Pacific Junior Hockey League.
The first period set the tone for the game, when Outlaws leading scorer Maximilian Corazza opened the scoring at 8:56.
Missions’ Justin Hargrave, Terrance Josephson, Brayden Durante, and Kyle Mooney followed suit with goals of their own to put the Outlaws up 5-0 heading into the second period.
Surrey was able to get themselves on the board with a goal from Truman Chiu, only to have Mission respond with three goals of their own.
Outlaws Jackson Cooke netted his first and second career PJHL goals during the second period, along with Hargrave receiving his second goal in the frame.
The third period was much of the same for the Outlaws when both Corazza and Josephson plotted their second goals of the game at 6:30 and 8:56 respectively.
Outlaw’s affiliate player, Nicholas MacDonald tapped off the night for the crowd at the Mission Leisure Centre with his first PJHL goal at 11:41 in the third.
Mission’s goaltender Mitchell Davis received his third win of the season, stopping 18 of the 20 shots he faced.
Notable performances from Outlaw veterans Mooney and Corazza with four points each, rookie standout Hargrave tallied three points and Brayden Durante, Liam Robinson, Cooke and Josephson all with two points.
Saturday night saw the Outlaws defeat the top team in the Harold Brittain Conference, Ridge Meadows Flames, 8-6 in exciting fashion.
Ridge Meadows took an early 2-0 lead before the halfway mark in the first period until Mission’s Justin Hargrave made it 2-1 with his third goal in two games.
Outlaw’s Chase Heslop brought the game to a 2-2 tie with his second of three points on the night at 16:06 of the first period.
Flames’ Ryley Lanthier put Ridge Meadows in the lead 16 seconds into the second, only to have Mission respond with four straight to cap off the second period.
Goals came from Mission’s Kyle Mooney (2), Dawson Campbell and Griffin Abbott.
Campbell and Abbott both tallied their first career PJHL goals in the game.
The final period of Mission’s season was an exciting one as they were able to hold off Ridge Meadows to secure the victory.
Corazza plotted his team leading 17th goal of the season at 4:30 in the third period.
Mission’s Brayden Durante scored on an empty net to secure the 8-6 win in a bitter sweet moment as he and Outlaw’s captain, Justin Bowerman were honoured before Saturday’s game.
Outlaws goaltender Matthew Trulsen made 33 saves on 39 shots, earning himself his 12th win of the season.
Durante spent four seasons playing junior hockey across British Columbia and Washington state totalling 102 points.
Bowerman, who had two assists on the night, has played part of the past five years for the Mission City Outlaws, scoring 103 points for the club.
Bowerman, born and raised in Mission, is a two-time Harold Brittain Conference champion, PJHL champion, and a Cyclone Taylor Cup bronze medallist.
Mission finishes the season with a 17-26-1 record, two points short of a playoff berth.
