For the second straight season, Coeur d’Alene Hockey Academy (Coeur d’Alene, Idaho) have won a Canadian Sport School Hockey League (CSSHL) Division II Western Championship.
After winning U18 Prep Division II last season, CDA won U17 Division II this year with a 5-4 overtime win over RINK Hockey Academy Kelowna (Kelowna, BC).
CDA and RHA Kelowna finished first and second in Pool B in the round robin, giving CDA a bye straight to the semi’s. CDA would end up beating STAR in the semi’s, while RHA Kelowna would beat North Shore in the quarters and Notre Dame in the semi’s to set up the final matchup.
The first 10 minutes were a feeling out process for both teams before Chase Lemieux and Myeongcheol Sung (1G, 1A) traded goals less than three minutes apart.
Logan Madrid would give CDA a 2-1 lead 3:47 into the second as he scored his third goal of the Championships. Defenseman Jamel Abougoush (1G, 1A) would tie the game midway through second with a point shot through traffic, giving him three goals in the playoffs as well. Wesley Padilla would respond quickly for CDA, giving them a 3-2 lead 2:12 later.
That lead would grow in the second as Kirill Zhikharev made it 4-2 CDA with 11:14 remaining. It looked like CDA would coast to victory but Otis Jacques made it a one goal game with 3:24 left. It would remain a one goal game for just 24 seconds as Noam Colapinto tied the game with his third of the Championships, beating Gunner Podollan (32/36).
RHA Kelowna would continue to apply pressure but CDA would survive, sending the game to OT. In OT the two teams would trade chances before Padilla set-up Evan Davis on a partial break, where Davis made no mistake and beat Beau Keller-Blaschuk (31/36) five-hole to play the role of hero and crown CDA U17 Division II Western Champions.
