The peewee B Cowichan Thunder continued their unbeaten season and added another banner to their collection with wins in the Island semifinals and final last weekend.
The Thunder already held the league title from the regular season, and had previously booked a spot in the upcoming provincial championships, but they still had some playoff business to take care of.
On Saturday, Cowichan thumped the Juan de Fuca Whalers 11-4 in the Island semifinal. The Thunder took a 6-2 lead in the first period on two goals each from Carter Blace and Brayden Rodgers and singles by Milo McDonald and Nate Akhurst.
Cowichan’s Molly Shea scored off a rebound for the only goal of the second period, and the Thunder added four more in the final frame from Reid Nahirnick, Rodgers, McDonald and Jackson Sampare. Ashton Slydell finished the game with two assists, and Parker Lawrence and Jack Isherwood had one each.
The Island final on Sunday came down to Cowichan and the Peninsula Warriors. The Thunder had defeated the Warriors in a tournament final in May, and the Warriors were looking for redemption.
Nahirnick opened the scoring, then Dane Stewart made it 2-0 on a pass from Akhurst before Peninsula got on the board. The Thunder responded with goals by McDonald and Akhurst, and with another goal by the Warriors, the Thunder took a 4-2 lead into the first intermission.
Peninsula scored twice in the second, but Stewart and Akhurst answered back to keep Cowichan up by a pair.
The Warriors got back into the game again, and the score was deadlocked at 6-6 with five minutes left in regulation. Akhurst completed his hat trick to restore the Cowichan lead, but Peninsula capitalized on a powerplay opportunity to tie it again with one minute remaining. With just 20 seconds on the clock, Parker Harvey fed the ball to Dane Stewart, who put the winning shot past the Peninsula goalie.
The Thunder will be seeded first in their division at the provincial championships in Delta on July 11-14.
