Three goals with less than 90 seconds left in the second period proved the start of an avalanche win (9-3) for the Okanagan College Coyotes on Saturday.
Struggling early to stay with the host Trinity Western Spartans in their B.C Intercollegiate Hockey League game at the Langley Events Centre, the Coyotes pulled even at 2-2 on a Miles Houston goal midway through the middle period.
But Kelowna's Brendan Urban put OC ahead with 1:22 left in the frame, while Chris Glen and Tison Schoenthal added goals 28 seconds apart before the break to provide their team with the momentum the rest of the way.
It was all Coyotes in the third, as Kyle L'Arrivee tallied three times and Kris Davis added a single marker to round out the scoring.
The win improved the Okanagan College record to 11-4-3, good for second place, seven points back of league-leading Simon Fraser University Clan and three ahead of the Thompson Rivers WolfPack.
"Our first period wasn't pretty and Sunny (Gill) made some terrific saves to keep in close," admitted Westside minor hockey product James Neitsch, who scored the Coyotes' lone goal in a 1-1 first period.
A balanced OC offence was a welcome outcome for coach Kim Barnstable.
"It was great to see guys like Lyndon (Dyas - two assists), Tison (Schoenthal - one goal, one assist) and Kyle (L'Arrivee) be rewarded for their hard work," said Barnstable. "Those guys compete for every inch on the ice and have worked very hard for us over the past few games. It was nice to see some pucks go in for them. Receiving contributions from everyone is key to our success down the road."
The Coyotes will continue their quest for a first league title this weekend when they travel to Castlegar to take on the Selkirk College Saints. They'll return to Kelowna's Memorial Arena Feb. 17 and 18 against Trinity Western and Simon Fraser respectively.
"We're working very hard to improve our game and believe we can win a championship if we keep progressing and executing our game plan," says Barnstable. "We're far from healthy and we can easily make excuses that we have lost too many players to be able to compete with the league's top teams. But we have progressed as a group, we're hungry to compete for a championship. On paper, we're as good as anyone in the BCIHL."