They came, the saw, they conquered. But they needed overtime to do it.
CFB Comox hosted CFB Esquimalt last week (Jan. 12-13) in the Pacific Region men’s and women’s hockey championships at Glacier Gardens Arena.
The visitors swept their best-of-three series, but there was never more than one goal separating the teams at the final buzzer in any of the four games, and both clinchers came in OT.
On Wednesday, the Esquimalt women doubled Comox 2-1. On Thursday, Esquimalt edged Comox 3-2 in double overtime to win the Pac Region championship and advance to the CF Nationals March 12-18 at CFB Borden, Ont.
“The Esquimalt women dug in just a little harder than the Comox women,” said 19 Wing sports co-ordinator Jake Plante.
On the men’s side, Esquimalt took Wednesday’s opener 4-3 then prevailed 4-3 in overtime in a fast-paced game to capture the regional crown and advance to the CF Nationals on March 19-25 at CFB Borden.
“The Pacific Region will be well represented at the nationals,” Plante said.
The navy vs. air force rivalry resumes this week (Jan. 19-21) when 19 Wing hosts the Pac Region Old Timers hockey championships. The best-of-three series gets underway today with opening ceremonies at 1 p.m. followed by game one at 2 p.m. Game two goes Thursday at 2 p.m. with game three, if needed, on Friday at 9 a.m. All the action is at Glacier Gardens Arena.