After a terrific regular season, the Creston Thunder Cats were unable to overcome injuries and a tenacious Columbia Valley Rockies as an overtime loss in Invermere spelled an early end to their playoffs.
Missing key players like Justen James and Bryce Sturm, the Thunder Cats couldn’t hang on to a 3-1 lead, giving up a late tying goal and then losing in overtime.
The Rockies got on the scoreboard first, with a goal from Jackson Grosshans. But Ronnie Wilkie (Liam Plunkett) and Kason Furukawa (Darby Berg) put the T-Cats up by a goal after 20 minutes of play.
Wilkie (Plunkett) stretched Creston’s lead to 3-1 early in the second period, but The Rockies’ Mike Dyck responded.
Ryan Skytt drew Columbia Valley into a tie midway through the third, but Conor Monaghan (Plunkett and Jack McCardle) restored Creston’s lead at the 11:29 mark.
A major penalty and game misconduct for head contact by Berg proved to be Creston’s undoing. Dyck tied the game with only 8 seconds left in regulation time.
Ryan Skitt scored 8:37 into overtime to vault the Rockies into a second playoff round (against the Kimberley Dynamiters) and end the Thunder Cat’s season.
Plunkett finished up an MVP-like season by being named the game’s Away Star. The KIJHL scoring champion leaves the playoffs in first place in post-season scoring, too, with 13 points in 6 games.
Creston outshot Columbia Valley 38-30. Monaghan, Wilkie, and Sturm also have places in the leagues Top 10 playoff scoring leaders, but two lopsided (8-1 and 7-1) wins weren’t enough to get the Thunder Cats into the next round of play.