The Osoyoos Coyotes drove a long way to play their first game of the regular season, but it was well worth the trip. The Coyotes built a 3-0 lead and hung on to defeat the Wranglers 3-2, Friday night in 100 Mile House.
Russell Weatherhead broke the ice with a late first period powerplay marker.
Osoyoos went up 2-0 when a 100 Mile House player accidentally shot the puck into his own net in the opening minute of the second period. Dexter Materi was given credit for the goal, being the last Coyote to touch the puck prior to the unusual gift.
Kaelen Halowaty (pictured above) made it 3-0, scoring what turned out to be the game winner and it looked like Osoyoos would cruise from there. Halowaty also added an assist on Weatherhead’s tally.
However, former Coyote Nelson Webster finally got the Wranglers on the board to leave his team down 3-1 entering the third.
100 Mile House drew to within one, while on the man advantage, just over eight minutes into the final period and pressed hard for the equalizer, but couldn’t put anything more past Hunter Arntsen, who was credited with the netminding victory.
The Wranglers outshot Osoyoos 40-25, a questionable count favouring the home side.
The Coyotes will do their best to catch up on some sleep in preparation for Saturday night’s (Sept. 21st) trip to Kelowna.
