After sweeping the Island finals, the peewee Tier 2 Cowichan Valley Capitals are bound for the provincial championships.
The Capitals won the first two games of their best-of-three series against the Victoria Racquet Club Kings to book their tickets to the B.C. tournament later this month.
Cowichan edged Racquet Club 5-4 in the first leg of the tournament in Victoria on Feb. 24. Keane Taylor scored twice in the first period, Austin Garrett and Ryder Blackstock added second-period goals, and Finn Klippenstein’s third-period marker stood up as the game-winner.
The second game, at Fuller Lake Arena last Saturday, wasn’t quite as close as Cowichan prevailed 8-2. Ashton Rota, Klippenstein and Richard Bergman scored in the first period, Bergman and Rees Aebischer had second-period goals, and Aebischer, Taylor and Linden Powers found the net in the third.
After playing in Tier 1 all season, the Capitals dropped down to Tier 2 for the playoffs. They went 3-1 in the South Island round robin, beating Saanich 16-1, Juan de Fuca 3-2 and Peninsula 2-0, with their only loss coming against Racquet Club, 4-3.
Cowichan beat Nanaimo 7-2 in the one-game Island semifinal, and Racquet Club defeated Oceanside 5-4 to set up the final series.
Provincials will be hosted by North Shore Winter Club on March 18-22.
“The goal was to make it there,” manager Kurt Powers said. “Now that we’re there, we’ll try and come home with some hardware.”