The regular season got off to exactly the start the Prairie Hockey Academy Cougars were hoping for in the U17 Prep division on Friday afternoon.
The Caronport-based squad opened their Canadian Sport School Hockey League campaign with 6-2 victory over the Notre Dame Hounds to kick off a weekend of showcase games hosted by Northern Alberta Extreme Hockey in Devon, Alta.
Things were close in the early going, as the two teams left the first period tied 1-1, but a four-goal outburst in the second turned things PHA’s way. They’d tack on another marker in the third to close out scoring.
Lukas Borne led the PHA offence with two goals and an assist, while Avery Johnson scored twice to go along with a goal and assist from Aidan Vallance and a single marker from Cohan Kuncio. Chance Cole, Austin Wentz and Kierin Osberg all had two assists each.
Cameron Beisal turned aside 20 shots in taking the win.
The U17 Cougars are back in action Saturday against Pilot Mound Hockey Academy before closing out their weekend against Edge School on Sunday.
The puck also dropped on PHA’s U16 Prep campaign on Thursday night, with the local squad dropping a 6-0 decision to Winnipeg’s Rink Hockey Academy at Barkman Arena in Caronport.
Rink took a 2-0 lead out of the first period while only outshooting PHA 13-12 over the opening 20 minutes, but added three more goals in the second and another in the third on their way to the shutout win.
Connor Milsap was busy in the Cougars’ goal, turning aside a total of 41 shots.
Both teams had plenty of opportunity to work on their power play, with the Cougars turning in a solid showing on the penalty kill and holding Rink to a single goal on 10 opportunities. PHA was 0-for-9 on the day.
The two teams are right back in action Friday and Saturday at Barkman Arena, with puck drop at 7 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. Saturday.
The U15 Prep Cougars are in Calgary for a showcase tournament hosted by Edge School. They play Friday against Burnaby Winter Club before taking the ice Saturday against Shawinigan Lake School and Sunday against the North Shore Warriors.
The U18 Prep Cougars open their CSSHL regular season on Oct. 7 but have a pair of exhibition games scheduled for this weekend. They face the Notre Dame Hounds on Friday in Wilcox before hosting the Hounds on Sunday at 10 a.m. at Barkman Arena.
The U18s are in Medicine Hat on Oct. 7 to face South Alberta Hockey Academy.
You can follow along with all the scores at www.csshl.ca and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/prairiehockeyacademy.
