The Victoria Cougars toppled the Campbell River Storm in Game 5 of the VIJHL Final last night by a score of 3-2.
The game was an emotion-filled affair, neither of these two teams like each other. After all, the Cougars and Storm have met in the past three VIJHL Finals, with the Storm taking the first meeting and the Cougars winning the championship last year. Going into Game 5 last night, the rubbermatch between these two teams was tied at two games a piece.
The Storm would open the scoring midway through the first period, Pearce Messer finds Darren Hards for a partial break and he would beat Cougars netminder Anthony Ciurro to give Campbell River the early advantage. Early in the second period, the Cougars would respond, as Grayden Hohl would bang home a loose puck on the power play to draw the game even. Later in the second, the Storm retake the leads thanks to a beautiful saucer pass from Kobe Oishi over to Dylan McCann, and he beats Ciurro to put the visitors ahead. To the final minute of the game and the Cougars looking to draw even, and it’s Dylan Passmore finding the loose puck in the crease and he would beat Storm goaltender Chris Smith to tie the game with 24 seconds remaining, and this game was headed to overtime.
In the extra frame, it’s Hohl in the corner setting up Tyler Pang in front and he scores the game winner, part of a three-point night for Hohl, as the Cougars take down the Storm 3-2 and take a 3-2 series lead. Game 6 of this series goes in Campbell River on Saturday afternoon, with the Cougars hoping to capture back-to-back VIJHL championships.
Tyler Bennett
