Saturday night’s 3-2 loss in North Okanagan had absolutely no bearing on the final regular season standings. Regardless of what happened, the Coyotes knew they would be facing the Knights in the opening round of the playoffs.
Osoyoos led 1-0 after the first period on a powerplay tally from Logan Messer.
Affiliate Player Dexter Materi scored his first KIJHL goal in the second period, also while on the man advantage, to put the Coyotes ahead 2-1 after 40-minutes. Bronson Seymour assisted on both.
North Okanagan bounced back in the third with a pair of unanswered markers and hung on for the win.
It’s not as if Osoyoos didn’t see its fair share of chances to attain a better result. The Coyotes may have scored twice on the powerplay, but they had eight such opportunities compared to just two for the Knights. That included a two man advantage in the dying seconds, with netminder Hayden Lee on the bench in favour of an extra attacker, actually creating an unsuccessful six-on-three.
The final shots were an even 37 apiece. Lee suffered the goaltending defeat.
The Osoyoos Coyotes conclude the regular season with a record of 16-24-4-0, good for 36 points and third spot in the Bill Ohlhausen Division. That indeed sets up a First Round, Best-of-Seven Playoff Series against the Knights, beginning Friday night (Feb. 23rd) in Armstrong. Game Two takes place the following night, Saturday (Feb. 24th), also at North Okanagan.
