Princeton punches ticket to playoffs by beating Summerland

The Princeton Posse did just enough to beat the Summerland Steam and book their spot in the KIJHL playoffs.

Morton Johnson scored with 1:05 to play as the Posse shaded the Steam 3-2 despite being outshot 43-14 on a Family Day matinee Monday at the Summerland Arena.

Linden Gove and Kole Halvorson also for Princeton (17-23-2-4), who eliminated the North Okanagan Knights with the win and set up a first-round Okanagan Division series against the first-place Osoyoos Coyotes.

Blake Holowaty and Cody Loring scored in the third period to tie the game for the Steam (26-15-1-3), who stayed one point ahead of the Kelowna Chiefs (25-15-1-4) in the battle for home-ice advantage in their first-round series. Each team has two games left, including a head-to-head matchup Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Summerland Arena.

Danyon Lorencz was sensational with 41 saves for Princeton, who were outshot 15-1 in the second period.

Matt Huber managed just 11 saves on 14 shots for the Steam.

It had been a great weekend until Monday for the Steam, who beat Osoyoos in overtime Friday and triumphed at 100 Mile House on Saturday. Kelowna split two road games, winning 4-3 in overtime over Kamloops in Quesnel, and falling 6-3 in 100 Mile House on Sunday afternoon.

SATURDAY — Steam 7 Wranglers 4: Cody Swan had two goals and two helpers and Gavin Lawrie scored twice as Summerland won at 100 Mile House.

Loring and Scott Robinson each had a goal and two helpers and Noah Kallichuk also clicked as the Steam led 2-1 and 5-2 at the period breaks.

Kolten Carpenter, Justin Bond, Darian Long and Frazer Dodd replied for the Wranglers.

Maxim Sidelnik made 34 saves for the Steam and Hayden Lyons stopped 23 shots for the Wranglers.

FRIDAY — Steam 5 Coyotes 4: Bailey Tamminga scored with 17 seconds left in the first overtime period as Summerland beat visiting Osoyoos to win for just the second time against their South Okanagan rivals this season.

Holowaty tied the game on a power play with 1:32 to go for the Steam, while Lucas Jirousek scored twice and Kallichuk had the other.

Sam Reinbolt, Colin Bell, Judd Repole and Austin Cleaver scored for the Coyotes (31-10-1-2), who overcame a 2-0 deficit after 20 minutes.

Huber made 15 saves and Liam Aitken stopped 14 for Osoyoos.

In other notable divisional games in the final week of the regular season, Osoyoos visits North Okanagan tonight and Revelstoke on Friday, before finishing up at home against North Okanagan on Saturday at 7:35 p.m. at the Sun Bowl.

Summerland’s last game is Saturday in Revelstoke, while Kelowna hosts Princeton.

Aside from the Okanagan Division, other guaranteed first-round matchups will see Revelstoke meeting Kamloops, Chase facing 100 Mile House, Castlegar taking on Beaver Valley, Creston meeting Columbia Valley, and Kimberley clashing with Fernie.

Only one playoff spot is still up for grabs, with Grand Forks holding a six-point lead over Spokane. Nelson awaits one of those teams in the first round.