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KIJHL: Beaver Valley Nitehawks close gap on Nelson Leafs

The Beaver Valley Nitehawks netted 5-of-6 points on their three-game road swing through the North Okanagan on the weekend.

The Beaver Valley Nitehawks netted 5-of-6 points on their three-game road swing through the North Okanagan on the weekend, closing the gap on the Murdoch division leading Nelson Leafs.

The Nitehawks beat Chase Heat Friday 3-2, before falling to the Sicamous Eagles 3-2 in overtime Saturday, and rebounded with a 4-3 OT victory over the Revelstoke Grizzlies Sunday.

Jacob Boyczuk scored at 3:53 of the second overtime to give B.V. the win against the Grizzlies. The Trail native netted his second goal of the game on a setup from Brayden Horcoff and Lyle Frank to lift the Hawks to its seventh win in 15 games this season.

The Hawks’ veteran started the scoring at 11:39 of the first period, scoring on the power play after Revelstoke’s Kieran Brunetti was sent off for head contact. Mitch Foyle would put the Hawks up 2-0 completing a nice play by Jack Vergouwen and Reid Anderson, to net his ninth goal and 18th point of the season, as B.V. outshot Revelstoke 21-4 in the period.

However, the Grizzlies would roar back in the second on goals from Louie Federico and Jeff Bochon, then take the lead 40 seconds into the third period when Josh Pilon beat goalie Drake Poirier to go up 3-2.  But the Nitehawks would tie it on the power play at 8:49 when Taylor Stafford converted a Tyler Hartman pass.

The Nitehawks outshot the Grizzlies 53-28, going 2-for-5 on the power play while the Grizzlies went 0-for-3.  Boyczuk was named player of the game for the Hawks.

In Saturday’s match Fruitvale’s Sam Swanson would tie it with under three minutes to play, but Eagle forward Ben Campbell would beat Carson Schamerhorn at 3:48 of the first overtime period to give the Eagles a 3-2 win. Reid Anderson netted the other Hawks goal, as B.V. outshot the home team 31-24, with Schamerhorn taking player of the game honours.

In Friday’s win over Chase, Spencer McLean scored the eventual winner at 6:37 of the third period to give the Hawks a 3-1 lead. It was McLean’s second goal and seventh point of the season, as the Montrose native was named player of the game.

Taylor Stafford and Tyler Hartman each had a goal and an assist for B.V. while Poirier got the win, stopping 25 shots on the night.

Beaver Valley gained ground on the first-place Nelson Leafs who fell to the 100 Mile House Wranglers 7-4 on Friday, before beating Revelstoke 9-3 and Sicamous 3-2. The 7-4-1-3 Nitehawks sit three points back of the Leafs who lead the division with 21 points.

B.V.’s next home games go at 7:30  p.m. Friday against the Golden Rockets and on Saturday versus Creston Valley.