The Beaver Valley Nitehawks rallied from a 2-0 deficit to comeback to beat the Castlegar Rebels 3-2 in overtime on Friday at the Hawks Nest.
Nitehawks defenceman Nate Ingram scored the game winner in overtime to lift the Nitehawks to a Game 1 victory. Ingram took a pass from brother Marty Ingram, broke down the right wing and fired a low shot past Rebels goalie Dawson Rattai with 4:08 to go in the first OT period for the Game 1 win.
Ben Anderson and Justin Duguay gave the Rebels a 2-0 lead, as Castlegar held the Nitehawks off the board through two periods despite being outshot 32-21.
But the Hawks clawed their way back with a goal from Luke Woodrow with 3:03 left in the final frame. Woodrow gained control of the puck at the Rebels blueline, showed patience as he walked around a Rebel defender and wired a shot off the post and in to bring the Hawks within one.
With 1:23 remaining, the Hawks executed a perfect set play, winning a face off in the Rebels zone back to Quaid Anderson who made a perfect feed to Bradley Ross at the left hashmark and the Neil Murdoch MVP blasted a one-timer into the open side to tie the game at two.
B.V. outshot the Rebels 57-31 with Rattai and Hawks goalie Hunter Young named the game stars.
Beaver Valley also handed out more hardware prior to Friday night’s game. Ross was awarded the Neil Murdoch Division’s Most Valuable Player, Young earned Top Goaltender, and coach Terry Jones, the Division’s Coach of the Year.
Game 2 goes Saturday night at 7 p.m. at the Beaver Valley Arena.