They had to put in a little extra work, but the Cariboo Cougars knocked off one of the top teams in the BC Elite Hockey League.
On Sunday at Kin 1, the U18 Cats defeated the Greater Vancouver Canadians 5-4 in overtime when Carter Hesselgrave scored with just 45 seconds left on the clock.
The Canadians – the second-place club in the 10-team division – were down 4-2 going into the third period but got goals from Jordan Luk and Ryder Johns to send the game to OT. The goal by Johns came on a power play with 6:16 left in regulation time.
The Canadians led 2-0 after the first period on goals by Luk and Massimo Fazio but the Cougars came out firing in the second. Colby Busche got them started with a goal just 27 seconds into the period and then Keenan Holland, Zachary Leslie (on a power play) and Decker Mujcin found the back of the Greater Vancouver net for the 4-2 Cariboo lead.
In the nets, Tysen Smith got the victory and Markus Lam took the loss. The Canadians outshot the Cougars 39-35, including 17-11 in the second period.
Sunday’s win gave the Cougars a weekend split with the Canadians, who won Saturday’s opener 3-1.
In that hard-fought contest, the Canadians needed an empty-netter from Grady Lenton to seal the deal. The goal was Lenton’s second of the game. He also opened the scoring in the second period. Chase Pacheco pulled the Cats into a 1-1 tie early in the third and then Aidan Wildeman put the visitors back out in front with 8:04 left on the clock.
Remy Quintoro was the winning goaltender, while Smith was on the losing end.
The Cougars made Quintoro sweat, as they outshot the Canadians 41-23.
In the standings, the fifth-place Cougars (14-12-1-3) are now three points clear of the sixth-place Okanagan Rockets (12-13-2-3). The Canadians, meanwhile, have a mark of 21-8-1-2 and are six points behind the division-leading Vancouver Northeast Chiefs (23-4-1-4).
The Cougars are scheduled to be in Langley this coming weekend for a doubleheader against the seventh-place Valley West Giants (10-13-5-0).
