Tim Hortons Peewee Kings will be going to the provincial hockey finals in Salmon Arm after winning a best-of-three series against Juan de Fuca A over the weekend.
Powell River led Saturday’s game 3-0 after the first period with all three goals coming from Tyler Carpendale.
In the second period, Juan de Fuca battled back to make it 3-2. The third period saw Juan de Fuca score two powerplay goals, but Carpendale answered with his fourth and fifth goals of the game putting the score at 5-4.
Juan de Fuca pulled their goalie, but with 16 seconds left, Ethan Schmunk blocked a shot from the point and scored into the empty net to make it 6-4.
It was an amazing effort for Carpendale who had missed two days of school and practice recovering from the flu. Keaton Mastrodonato assisted on four of the goals. After the game, both teams had to hurry to catch the 5:15 pm ferry to Vancouver Island and head south to Victoria.
On Sunday, a desperate Juan de Fuca came out flying and took an early 2-0 lead. Mastrodonato answered back to make it 2-1 in the first. In the second, while shorthanded, Schmunk tied the game for the Kings. Juan de Fuca regained the lead four minutes later.
The score remained 3-2 into the third period. Caleb Parkhouse scored for Powell River with 11 minutes left to tie the game 3-3. After that, it was all Juan de Fuca. Needing a win, they threw everything they had at the Kings. Powell River goalie Isaiah Brach did everything he could to keep each shot out. With the help of his defence and an incredible diving slide by defenceman Jaxon Harper to clear a puck from an empty net, the game went into overtime.
With 2:30 gone in overtime, Parkhouse scored his second goal of the game and gave Powell River the win and the island title.
It has been the team’s goal all year to make it to the provincials. With an overall season record of 24-13-5 and a tier one regular season record of 5-6-1, the peewees had been preparing for playoffs. Now, with 28 games already played on the road this year, the Kings are ready for the trip to Salmon Arm and provincial competition.
