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Prairie Hockey Academy wins Midget Varsity championship opener

Cougars battle to 5-4 overtime win over Shawnigan Lake to open tournament in Penticton

The Prairie Hockey Academy Cougars might have found things to be a little closer than they’d like at the Canadian Sport School Hockey League Midget Varsity championships on Thursday night, but when you’re playing for a league title, a win is a win no matter how it comes.

Chase Jocelyn scored the game winner 1:33 into overtime to give the Cougars a 5-4 victory over Shawingan Lake School to open the tournament on Thursday in Penticton, B.C.

Things started slowly for PHA in the first period --  something that could be attributed to their 14-hour bus ride to event – as they found themselves down 2-0 before the game was eight minutes old. The bus legs wore off quick, though, and the Cougars would pour in four straight goals the rest of the frame to take a 4-2 lead out of the first.

Jocelyn, Brandon Kelly, Mikkel Hrechka and Ethan Kelly scored in the last 10:07 of the period, with Kelly and Jocelyn’s goals coming only 43 seconds apart late in the frame.

The Cougars wouldn’t be able to hold the lead, though, as Connor Keys and Benjamin Kim would score in the second to tie the game 4-4 and eventually send things into overtime.

There, Jocelyn would streak in off the point to pick up a nifty little backhand pass from Brandon Kelly and rip a shot home to give PHA their overtime win.

The victory instantly gives the Cougars control of Pool A, as the top two squads advance to the playoff round. PHA is back on the ice Friday night when they take on International Hockey Academy before closing out the preliminary round on Saturday morning against Okanagan Hockey Academy.

The semifinal takes place Sunday afternoon. The gold medal game will be at 3:30 p.m. Monday.

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