An Oct. 11 road trip to visit the Steelmen in Nanaimo resulted in a 5-4 shootout loss for the Lake Cowichan Appollos.
Appollos assistant coach Glen Smith said his team began the contest a bit sluggish, resulting in them being outshot 23-7 in the first period. He credited Lake Cowichan's starting goaltender for keeping the team competitive early.
“Chris Akerman was outstanding keeping us in the game,” Smith said.
The senior AA men’s hockey club weathered the first-period onslaught of Nanaimo shots and trailed just 1-0 at the first intermission.
The second period saw the Appollos take control.
Lake Cowichan outshot Nanaimo 24-2 after settling into gameplay.
Brendan Hogg opened the Appollos’ scoring, assisted by Sukhraj Narwal and Ryan Hogg, to tie the game 1-1.
The visiting team took the lead when the Appollos struck again on a Trey Watson goal, assisted by Evan Easton and Parker Bergstrom.
Keenan Eddy scored late in the frame with the game tied at two apiece to give the Appollos a 3-2 lead. Easton picked up his second assist on the play.
The Appollos maintained the lead late into the game, but a penalty led to a Nanaimo goal to tie it at 3-3.
The Steelmen found the back of the net again with just 2:10 remaining in regulation.
All signs pointed to a regulation-time win for Nanaimo, but Bergstrom’s goal with 35 seconds left thwarted that plan. Assists went to Colten Thompson and Josh Anderson.
The game-tying goal sent it to overtime knotted at 4-4.
Five extra minutes of three-on-three hockey solved nothing.
The Steelmen went on to win in the shootout, much to the delight of the home fans.
The Appollos remain atop the West Coast Senior Hockey League standings with three points, while Powell River, Hope and Nanaimo each sit just behind with two points.
The Appollos return to action on Friday, Oct. 24, when they take on the Powell River Regals at the Cowichan Lake Sports Arena. Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m.
