Submitted by Jason Peters, Cariboo Hockey
The top two teams from the regular season will clash for the playoff championship in the U18 female division of the BC Elite Hockey League.
The top-ranked Fraser Valley Rush and second-seeded Northern Capitals both swept their best-of-three semifinals this weekend and will now face off in a final series that will start on Friday in the Lower Mainland.
The Rush beat the Thompson Okanagan Lakers by scores of 7-1 (Friday) and 4-1 (Saturday). Meanwhile, the Northern Capitals downed the Vancouver Island Seals 4-1 in both their Friday and Saturday games.
In the first game, Hailey Armstrong powered the Capitals to victory with a hat trick, and Rachel Loewen also scored. Brooklyn Hutchings had three assists in the contest.
Goaltender Karsyn Niven backstopped the Caps to the win.
In the second and deciding game, Keagan Goulet scored a pair for the Capitals and added an assist. Hutchings and Armstrong had the other goals and Sierra Eagles picked up the win in net.
Both games were played at Kin 2.
During the regular season, the Rush skated to a 28-3-1-0 record, while the Caps went 22-7-0-3.
In eight head-to-head games between the teams, the Rush won six times and the Capitals prevailed twice. Two of the Rush victories came in overtime.
The schedule for the playoff championship will be released this week.
READ MORE: Northern Capitals finish second in league after splitting final games
The U17 Cariboo Cougars played tough against the heavily-favoured Fraser Valley Thunderbirds but lost a best-of-three quarterfinal playoff series in a sweep.
On the ice in Abbotsford, the second-seeded Thunderbirds beat the Cougars 2-1 on Friday and 7-4 on Saturday.
All of the Friday goals came in the second period, with the T-birds taking a 2-0 lead before Declan Pocock replied for the Cats.
On Saturday, Seth Habsburg scored twice for the Cougars, while Jesse Brideau and Anthony Duhamel also found the back of the Fraser Valley net.
At the U-15 playoff tournament in North Vancouver, the Cariboo Cougars finished with a 1-3-0-1 record. They fell 2-1 and 7-1 respectively to the Valley West Giants and Okanagan Rockets and then dropped a 5-4 overtime decision to the Greater Vancouver Canadians. The Cats then lost 4-1 to the South Island Royals but finished on a high note when they beat the North Island Silvertips 8-3 in their last game, played Saturday.
READ MORE: Quesnel Kangaroos fall in final game of CIHL finals
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