The Prairie Hockey Academy Cougars came up two wins short in their quest for a Canadian Sport School Hockey League Midget Varsity championship.
After posting a 3-0 record through the round robin, the Cougars were unable to get past Pilot Mound Hockey Academy in the semifinal, dropping a 6-2 decision on Sunday afternoon in Penticton, B.C..
The game was close in the early going as Pilot Mound took a 2-1 lead out of the first period, with all the scoring in the frame coming in the span of 34 seconds.
Ashton Paul gave PMHA a 1-0 lead at the 8:30 mark, Tyson Kistner scored for the Cougars 18 seconds later and Dayvan Bull would restore the one-goal edge 16 seconds after Kistner’s goal.
Colby Bear and Brock Macdonald scored for Pilot Mound in the second period to take a 4-1 lead through two, and while Chase Jocelyn got one back for Prairie Hockey 18 seconds into the third, that would be as close as they’d get.
Nicholas McKee and Tynan Ewart added insurance markers for PMHA.
Neither team had much interest in keeping shot totals down, as Brody Hsiao faced 42 shots for the Cougars, Dawson Chen 44 shots for Pilot Mound.
Things aren’t finished for PHA just yet, as the Elite 15 squad hits the ice in the CSSHL Consolation tournament.
The Cougars – who finished with a 13-21-2-0 record and in 11th place in the 14-team league – play their first game Tuesday at 9 a.m. against Pursuit of Excellence (2-33-0-1) before taking on Okanagan HA on Wednesday at 11:15 a.m. and closing out the round robin against OHA Edmonton at 9 a.m. on Thursday.
