U18 Canadians Battle First-Place Cougars Tough in Prince George

The U18 AAA Greater Vancouver Canadians gave the first-place Cariboo Cougars a tough battle in both games over the weekend in Prince George’s Kin Centre, before ultimately falling 4-1 and 3-2.

In the Saturday game, the Canadians lost 4-1 despite scoring first. Joshua Mytton scored just 44 seconds into the game, his fourth goal of the season, as GVC jumped out to an early lead. The Cougars, however, tied the game with four minutes left in the first period and then took the lead for good early in the second. Cariboo added two more goals the rest of the way, firing 25 shots at Alan Peregrym over the final two periods. Peregrym finished with a total of 30 saves. 

On Sunday, Cariboo improved to 4-0-1 on the season against GVC with a 3-2 win, the third one-goal game between the two clubs. Luca Martyniuk scored twice, giving him a team-high 11 goals on the season. He opened the scoring midway through the first period and then got the tying goal with 6:54 remaining in regulation. In between, the Cougars got a pair of goals, and Martyniuk’s second goal appeared to send the game to overtime. Cariboo, though, scored the game-winner on the power play less than two minutes after Martyniuk’s tying score to sweep the weekend series. Liam Leslie stopped 24 shots, shutting down the Cougars offense for the first 47 minutes of the game before Cariboo came back. 

GVC is now 7-7-2-2 on the season, tied for fifth place with the U18 Vancouver NE Chiefs, and only three points out of third. 

Next up, the U18 Canadians will take on the Thompson Blazers (0-16-0) this weekend, playing on Dec. 7-8 at the Sandman Centre in Kamloops. Saturday’s game is at 3:30 p.m. and Sunday’s finale is at 1:45 p.m.