In the weekend rubber match Sunday morning at Kin 1, the Northern Capitals and Greater Vancouver Comets were taking no prisoners. <\/p>\n
Late hacks at the goalie were being punished with cross-checks across the back and there were a few choice words uttered by both teams as the chippy play continued. It was just the kind of intensity you'd expect from last year's B.C. Female Midget Triple-A Hockey League playoff finalists renewing their rivalry in their final meeting of the regular season. <\/p>\n
The Comets had already felt the sting of losing their first game of the season Saturday night when the Capitals went home with a 3-1 victory. Their chance for perfection denied, the Comets took it out on the Capitals in Sunday's game, posting a convincing 6-1 win. <\/p>\n
\"It felt really good handing an undefeated team their first loss of the season,\" said Capitals centre Cailey Mellott. \"They're a good team, they play their systems well and they're fast, but we gave them a run for their money. This game was a lot more physical.\" <\/p>\n
The Comets were leading 1-0 Sunday on a goal from Camryn Gormley when Mya Taylor opened the second period with a backhand shot to beat Cougars' goalie Olivia Davis. Comets winger Naomi Choong made it a 3-0 game when she skated out of the corner and scored on a high wrister on a power play 8:32 into the second period. <\/p>\n
In the third period, an early goal from Rebecca Clarke put the game out of the Cougars' reach. Stefanie Wallace finished off a breakaway with a shot through the pads of Davis at 12:13 of the third and Nicole Kay came off the bench to relieve Davis. <\/p>\n
Cougars sniper Braxtyn Shawara, the pride of McBride, broke up Brooke Vial's shutout bid when she put a move on defenceman Nicole Wong at the Vancouver blueline and skated in alone to score on a low wrist shot. Clarke completed the scoring in the last minute. <\/p>\n
In Saturday's game, Mellott scored two goals, including an empty-netter, and Wynona Creyke scored the other for the Capitals. Darci Johal opened the scoring for the Comets in the first period. After knocking off a team that had reeled off 22 straight wins, the Capitals' celebrated in the dressing room like they'd won another title. <\/p>\n
\"The intensity (Saturday) was unrivaled,\" said Capitals assistant coach Megan Price. \"They played better than they've played all season, they were working together and that's what we try to teach them as coaches and it showed on the ice. It was an awesome game, there was so much energy.\" <\/p>\n
Vancouver won Friday by a 3-1 count. Choong, Johal and Jenn Gardiner were the Comet goal-scorers, after Camryn Scully notched the first goal of the game for the Capitals. <\/p>\n
Kay started and finished in goal for the first two games. <\/p>\n
\"(Saturday's win) gave us the positivity that we can beat the top team in the league,\" said Kay. \"Coming out strong and how we competed with them last year, to regain that confidence is good. <\/p>\n
\"This game (Sunday) was intense. Both teams wanted the win and wanted to pull it off and take the two away from the weekend.\" <\/p>\n
While a perfect season was the Comets' goal, head coach Mark Taylor said it's not such a bad thing to have to swallow a regular-season loss. <\/p>\n
\"It would have been nice to try to run the table but at the end of the day we just want to keep trying to improve as a group and if we're going to have a loss it's better to have it now than a month from now,\" said Taylor. \"You can learn from little bit of adversity like that. <\/p>\n
\"Prince George is a hard-working team and they played very well (Saturday) and limited our chances so they deserve a lot of credit for that win. It was good to see our girls bounce back. They tried to take control of the game and keep the pressure on all game.\" <\/p>\n
The Capitals (9-10-2) started Sunday's game three points behind the second-place Thompson-Okanagan Lakers. There's added incentive for the Capitals to finish second knowing the top two teams receive first-round playoff byes. They have nine games left and will play the Fraser Valley Rush in a three-game series this weekend in Langley. <\/p>\n
The Comets (23-1-0), who host the Kootenay Wild this weekend, have already wrapped up the regular season crown. <\/p>\n
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Capitals slow Comets in series - Prince George Citizen<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the weekend rubber match Sunday morning at Kin 1, the Northern Capitals and Greater Vancouver Comets were taking no prisoners. Late hacks at the goalie were being punished with cross-checks across the back and there were a few choice words uttered by both teams as the chippy play continued. Continue reading