The Beaver Valley Nitehawks jumped out to a 2-0 Murdoch Division series advantage over the Castlegar Rebels on the weekend.
The Nitehawks doubled up the Castlegar Rebels 6-3 to win Game 2 of the Division semifinal on Saturday, following a thrilling 3-2 overtime victory on Friday night.
Related read: Nitehawks beat Leafs in final game, win Murdoch Division title
The Hawks took a 2-0 lead into the third period on goals from Simon Nemethy and Nolan Corrado in a close-checking match up reminiscent of Game 1. The two teams, however, erupted for seven goals in the final frame as the Nitehawks scored four times for the win.
Nemethy tallied two goals and two assists, while Nolan Corrado also scored twice, and Bradley Ross netted the game winner at 16:09 of the third period to give the Nitehawks a 4-1 lead.
Rebels forward Cortez Favot beat B.V. goalie Hunter Young at 17:10 of the third to get Castlegar on the board. After goals from Corrado and Ross’ game winner, Josh Weins made it 4-2 on a power play goal with the Rebels goalie pulled and 4:48 to play, but Zachary Park restored the three goal lead and a 5-2 edge a minute later.
Castlegar’s Griffen Ryden brought the visitors within two with 56 seconds left, but Nemethy’s empty netter sealed the win for the Hawks.
Beaver Valley outshot the Rebels 42-39, going 1-for-3 on the power play, and 3-for-5 on the penalty kill.
Corrado earned the game star for the Hawks, and Keeghan Holub for the Rebels.
In Game 1 on Friday, the Nitehawks rallied from a 2-0 deficit to come back and beat the Castlegar Rebels 3-2 in overtime.
Nitehawks forward Nate Ingram scored the game winner in overtime. Marty Ingram sent a pass to his brother in full stride down the right wing and Nate fired a low shot past Rebels goalie Dawson Rattai with 4:08 to go in the first OT period for the Game 1 win.
The thrilling turn around brought the Nitehawks fans to their feet in what was an exciting goaltenders duel through two periods.
Ben Anderson and Justin Duguay gave the Rebels a 2-0 lead, as Castlegar held the Nitehawks off the board through 40 minutes despite being outshot 32-21.
But the Hawks clawed their way back with a goal from Woodrow with 3:03 left in the final frame. Woodrow gained control of the puck at the Rebels blueline, showed patience as he walked around a Rebel defender and wired a shot off the post and in to bring the Hawks within one.
With 1:23 remaining, the Hawks pulled goalie Hunter Young for an extra attacker, and executed a perfect set play. The Hawks won the face off in the Rebels zone back to d-man Quaid Anderson who made a perfect feed to Bradley Ross at the left hashmark and the Neil Murdoch MVP blasted a one-timer into the open side to tie the game at two.
B.V. outshot the Rebels 57-31 with Rattai and Young named the game stars.
Beaver Valley also handed out more hardware prior to Friday night’s game. In addition to receiving another Murdoch Division banner, Ross was awarded the Neil Murdoch Division’s Most Valuable Player, Young earned Top Goaltender, and coach Terry Jones, the Division’s Coach of the Year.
In the other Murdoch Division series, as of Monday press time, the Nelson Leafs were up 2-0 on the Spokane Braves with a 4-1 victory in Game 1 and a 6-1 win in Game 2.
Beaver Valley and the Rebels played Game 3 on Monday night at the Castlegar Rec Centre but the score was unavailable at press time. Game 4 goes Tuesday night in Castlegar before returning to the Hawks Nest on Thursday at 7 p.m. for Game 5, if necessary.
