The stakes could not have been higher for the Sicamous Eagles when they took on the 100 Mile House Wranglers in the fifth game of their playoff series on Monday, March 4.
When the teams hit ice at the South Cariboo Rec Centre in front of almost 600 fans, the Eagles were playing for survival, down 3-1 in the series after pulling one win out of the weekend’s two games in Sicamous.
Read More: Sicamous Eagles down two in series against 100 Mile House Wranglers
The Wranglers scored the first goal of the game with just over three minutes left to play in the opening period. It took only 10 seconds for Sean Thornton to even the score with an unassisted goal. Twenty-five seconds before the end of the first, Josh Olson of the Eagles was sent to the box for hooking. The players went to the dressing rooms for the first intermission with a tie on the scoreboard.
Starting the second period off with a power play, Garret Hilton of the Wranglers scored assisted by Joel Patsey and Jayce Schweizer.
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Late in the period, Jason Herd of the Eagles was sent to the box for holding an opposing player’s stick. Just as Herd was getting out of the box, Trysten Brookman stickhandled his way through the Wranglers defence unassisted and scored on Jakob Gullmes between the home team’s pipes.
The game moved on to overtime and tension built as the Wranglers tried to advance to the next round of the playoffs and the Eagles clung to their championship hopes for dear life.
Two overtime periods passed without a winner being decided as both goaltenders were pushed to their limits. Eagles goaltender Cole Steinke faced 29 shots in overtime and 73 on the night.
As both teams grew exhausted by the game that stretched well beyond regulation time, the Wranglers got the upper hand and scored just over three minutes into the period, putting an end to the game and the Eagles’ season.
@SalmonArm
jim.elliot@saobserver.net
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