Osoyoos increased its first place lead in the Bill Ohlhausen Division to 11 points over Summerland by edging the Steam 6-5, Saturday night at the Sun Bowl Arena.
The Coyotes appeared to have the game well in-hand, leading 2-1 after 20 minutes and 4-2 entering the third period. Two more markers made it 6-2, before complacency began to take over.
Summerland rallied for three goals in less than seven minutes, including a pair only 36-seconds apart, to put a bit of a scare into the home team. However, the comeback attempt ran out of time and ended up short.
Ethan McKinley continued his torrid pace with two goals and three assists. Zachary Park tallied twice, while adding a couple of helpers. Jack Henderson and Kaleb Kremp also scored for Osoyoos. Payton McDonald-Corea contributed three assists toward the victory.
The shots were 45-25 in favour of the Coyotes, who were a perfect four-for-four on the powerplay and controlled most the play before faltering late in the game.
The win improves the Osoyoos Coyotes overall record to 19-2-1-3, good for 42 points, tops in the KIJHL.
Next up is a home-and-home versus Kelowna following the Christmas break — Tuesday, December 28th at Rutland and Wednesday, December 29th back in Osoyoos.
