Chiefs, Steam split on weekend

Osoyoos off to 2-0 start in 1st-round series with Princeton

The Summerland Steam and Kelowna Chiefs took one apiece at the outset of the KIJHL playoffs, while the Osoyoos Coyotes jumped up two games heading into their third matchup with Princeton.

Despite a third-period, three-goal rally by Kelowna, Summerland held on for a 5-4 victory in the opener of their best-ofseven series at Rutland Arena on Friday.

Brody Dale put two in the twine in the third and Devin Sutton got one early in the period for the Chiefs, but it wasn’t enough to topple Summerland’s five goals — scored by Blake Holowaty, Morey Babakaiff, Liam McLaren and Scott Robinson, who knocked in the first and last goals for the Steam.

The Chiefs flipped the box score the very next night in Game 2 of the series, beating Summerland 5-4 and tying the series at 1-1.

Zach Erhardt and Devin Sutton scored two in the third to prevail and pull even in the series.

The first game wasn’t as closely fought in the Osoyoos-Princeton series, with the Coyotes taking a 7-3 win in Game 1 at the Osoyoos Sun Bowl on Friday.

Lane French got on the board first for the Posse, but a 3-3 tie at the end of the first was followed by four unanswered goals from the Coyotes (by Sam Reinbolt, Carter Shannon, Brandon Onstein and Connor Onstein) to put it away.

The Coyotes went up 2-0 in the series with a 2-1 win on Saturday in Osoyoos, taking both games on home ice.

The Coyotes headed to the Princeton and District Arena to take on the Posse at 7 p.m., while the Chiefs travelled to Summerland to face the Steam at 7:30 p.m.

Both games occurred Monday night past the press deadline.