Oceanside’s Peewee A Generals punched their ticket to the Tier 2 Island finals with big back-to-back road wins last weekend.
The young Generals, who finished fifth out of seven teams in the regular season standings, doubled up the Tyees 6-3 in Campbell River on Saturday, and followed that up with a thrilling 8-5 come-from-behind win over the Clippers in Nanaimo on Sunday.
“We were down 3-0 in the first 15 minutes of the game and we came back to win it, it was a good time,” Peewee A coach Rob Noviello said Sunday night. “The kids showed a lot of heart and character this weekend,” he said, pointing out the locals were the underdogs going into both games.
What made the weekend wins all the sweeter said their coach “was that the scoring came from a lot of different players.”
Cody Shepheard had two goals on Saturday, and Michael Noviello, Isaac Liek, Keiren Bowles and Aslan Lacouvee all added singles. On Sunday, Noviello struck for a pair, and Bowles, Liek, Lacouvee, Grayson Weme, Jacob Lillywhite, and Aiden Sutherland all fed the net as well while Shepheard pitched in with two assists.
Those close to the team weren’t nearly as shocked by the two upsets as their opponents were. The Peewee A Generals headed into the playoffs “with high hopes,” said their coach. “The kids have really come together as a team and are playing very well right now. We’re hoping to be the LA Kings of last year,” he chuckled.
IN OTHER ACTION
Oceanside’s Peewee B team opened its Tier 4 playoffs with two home games on the weekend, battling hard but coming up short against Nanaimo on Saturday and Campbell River Sunday.
GAME ON
The Peewee A Generals host the Powell River Kings on Sunday (11:30 a.m. start), who also won their first two games and as such both teams have advanced to the Island finals against the top two teams from the South to be held down Island near the end of the month. The Peewee B’s are in Comox on Saturday looking to keep their post season alive.