A five-goal shutout is a great way to start your home hockey tournament.
Especially when it comes at the expense of a team the Prince George Viking Construction Cougars hadn't yet beaten this season.
Despite a determined attack Friday from the Kelowna Rockets in the late stages of the second period at The Citizen Peewee Tournament of Champions at Kin 1, the Cougars held a 1-0 lead, then poured it on to score four more in the third period to win 5-0.
"It was a good effort from the boys, for the most part, but they did have a 10-minute section of the third period when they were a bit asleep and were getting outplayed," said Cougars head coach Ben Williams. "But they woke up and responded really strong for the third period and cranked it up. They clean the ice at the 10-minute mark of the second period and Kelowna was down by a goal and they came out stronger than we did, and our goalie (Quinn Ferris) responded well for us."
Inspired by Ferris's efforts to preserve the lead, the Cougars top line of Nick Correale, Austin Gray and Brogan O'Brien did some damage at other end of the ice in the final frame.
Correale, the 12-year-old brother of former Spruce King junior Dan Correale, scored two goals, while Gray, O'Brien and Steven Jandric also found the Kelowna net.
"Nick plays consistently well for us and it was good for him to put a couple chances away," said Williams. "The other two lines had lots of chances as well, they just didn't find the back of the net."
In the late game Friday, also at Kin 1, the Cougars fought to a 5-5 tie with Vernon. O'Brien, Steven Jandric, Chris Jandric, Koltin Chasse and Colton Faucher scored the Prince George goals. Brady Patterson was the Viking goaltender.
The Cougars had a 3-0 lead, fell behind 4-3, went up 5-4, and then surrendered a late power play goal.
Viking has no peewee Tier 1 opponents to play in the North Central zone and to fill the gap have taken on bantam house league teams for competition.
"These are our only home games at the peewee Tier 1 level," Williams said.
"If the boys perform to their ability all weekend, there's no reason we can't win the whole tournament. Kamloops has a winning record against us, and that will be another strong test (today at noon, Kin 2). Both Vernon and Grande Prairie have played us tough (in other tournaments). All five teams have a legitimate shot at winning this."
The peewee Cats wrap up their round-robin schedule against Grande Prairie at 5 p.m. today in Kin 1.
A first-place finish in the round-robin will guarantee a berth in Sunday's 2 p.m. final at Kin 1. The second- and third-place teams meet Sunday at 7:45 a.m. at Kin 2 for the right to play in the championship game.
A win in Sunday's final would give Viking its first tournament title in four tries this season.
