ESQUIMALT, B.C. – The 100 Mile House Wranglers, with former Comox Valley Glacier Kings coach Dale Hladun at the helm, kept their Cyclone Taylor Cup gold medal hopes alive by beating the Campbell River Storm 4-3 on Saturday afternoon.
Playing in the morning or afternoon on Sunday will depend on the outcome of the late game between the Mission City Outlaws and Victoria Cougars.
100 Mile House, which held period leads of 2-0 and 3-1, is hoping for a Cougars win.
Trailing by three goals early in the final frame, Campbell River mounted a furious comeback.
Cole Slaney cut the lead in half at 6:12 before Josh Coblenz pulled the Storm to within one after banging home a Colin Blake rebound past Adam Derochie at 8:33.
Also scoring for the defending Cyclone Taylor Cup champion Storm was Brett Kinley who was affiliating from the North Island Silvertips of the BC Major Midget League.
Nick McCabe (2), Alex Meeker, and Justin Bond gave the Wranglers a 4-1 lead before Campbell River starting chipping away.
Late in the game, the Storm tried to get Riley Welyk to the bench for an extra attacker but the ferocious fore-checking from Stephen Egan and Brady Ward killed precious time off the clock.
Welyk was able to get to the bench but it was a case of too little too late.
Just as the buzzer sounded, Tavis Roch threw his body in front of a Kobe Oishi shot.
Shots on goal were 42-33 in favour of the Wranglers.
Both teams failed to score on the power play.
After finishing 0-3 in round-robin play, Campbell River will finish no higher than third place.