The Kootenay Ice dropped two games to the Vancouver NE Chiefs on the weekend in BC Major Midget League (BCMML) action.
A promising effort in the first game Saturday saw the Ice claw back a 3-0 first-period deficit to tie it in the second period, however, a tough Chiefs team responded in the third scoring three times on their way to a 6-4 victory.
Goals from Dante Berrettoni, Nicolas Roussel and Justin Scott gave the NE Chiefs a 3-0 lead, but the Ice battled back in the second period on goals from Gavin Damstrom, Noah Quinn, and Caleb Goncalves.
The Chiefs took the lead at 17:36 of the third on a goal by Logan Kurki, and less than a minute later a four-minute hit-to-the head penalty to Kootenay’s Anthony Williams stalled an Ice response. The Chiefs tallied an insurance marker at 8:51 on a Christian Lowe marker, and made it 6-3 on Berrettoni’s second goal of the game.
Williams scored with 4:40 left on the clock to bring the Ice within two in the 6-4 setback.
In Game 2 Sunday, a steady stream of Kootenay penalties helped the Chiefs erupt for five goals in the second period on their way to a 9-0 shut out.
The Chiefs took a 1-0 lead into the second period, before the wheels fell off for the Ice. Ryan Tattle scored his first of two on the night on the power play at 14:22, and 39 seconds later Scott put the Chiefs up 3-0 on another extra-man tally.
Two goals from Dante Ballarin, and singles from Ben Fontaine, James Bohn, and Berretoni rounded out the scoring in the 9-0 drubbing.
The wins elevate the 11-4-2-1 Chiefs into a tie with the Fraser Valley Thunderbirds for first place in the BCMML standings, while Kootenay falls to 3-13-0-0.
The Ice will look to make up some ground when they travel to Delta to face the eighth place Valley West Giants (5-9-2-2) on Saturday and Sunday.