The Cariboo Cougars broke out offensively in a 4-1 victory against the Fraser Valley Thunderbirds on Sunday in Abbotsford.
The Cougars had scored just four times in their previous three games and had fallen 2-1 to the Thunderbirds on Saturday. But, in the rematch, the Cats struck for a pair of first-period goals and added two more in the second. Meanwhile, goaltender Jordan Fairlie was blanking the Fraser Valley shooters in a quest for his second shutout of the B.C. Hockey Major Midget League season. Fairlie kept the T-birds off the board until the 5:26 mark of the third period when he was finally beaten by Aidan Roy.
Hunter Brown, Jackson Hassman, Jaydon Merritt and Devan Minard were the marksmen for the Cougars. Hassman and Merritt also chipped in with one assist each.
Fairlie, the winning goaltender, bumped his record to 8-4-0-0 and lowered his goals-against average to 2.17. Liam Vander Kooi took the loss for the Thunderbirds.
The Cats and T-birds went into Sunday’s game with matching 10-4-0-1 records. With the win, the Cougars secured fourth place in the standings and dropped the Thunderbirds to fifth.
The Cougars will be in Nanaimo next weekend for a doubleheader against the North Island Silvertips. Their next home games are Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 when they’ll take on the Valley West Giants.