The senior AA men's Lake Cowichan Appollos won their first home opener in a decade, beating the Powell River Regals 4-3 in overtime on Sept. 21.
"It was amazing," said team president Ross Forrest of the club's first game back at the Cowichan Lake Sports Arena. "We had close to 600 fans who instantly became big fans of the team we have."
Shawnigan Lake's Drayson Pears got the first goal of the game for the Appollos, short-handed, to get the team's supporters invested early but the goal was quickly matched by Powell River.
A power-play goal from the Appollos River Fahey in the second proved to be the only goal of that period and gave the Appollos the one-goal advantage heading into the third. The Regals answered back early in the third, however, to tie it at 2-2.
Samson McLean, also from Shawnigan Lake, put the Appollos ahead once more but Powell River once again equalized and regular time ran out before either team could break the tie.
To overtime they went and it didn't take too long for Duncan's Evan Easton to become the newest hero in Lake Cowichan Appollos lore, scoring the game-winner for the home team in their home opener.
Forrest said the atmosphere in the arena was the closest he'd seen to when the senior men's Lakers played there back in the 1970s.
"The reception we have received from fans and the whole Cowichan Valley community has been tremendous," Forrest said. "We can’t thank everyone enough for their unbelievable support."
Lake Cowichan Kraken
In other Lake Cowichan hockey news, it took overtime but the junior 'A' Lake Cowichan Kraken skated to their first victory of the VIJHL season on Saturday, Sept. 28 in Oceanside.
The Kraken out-shot the Generals 49-45 in the 2-1 overtime win with goaltender Myles Gordon stopping 44 of the 45 shots he faced to earn the game's third star honours, as reported by the VIJHL.
There was no scoring in the first period and it took until just past the midway point in the second for Oceanside to break open the scoring with a power-play marker. Laval, Que. product Laroslav Morozov countered for the Kraken less than two minutes later on a power play giving him four goals on the season, which ties him for the club lead. The goal also gave Lake Cowichan a 1-1 tie after two periods of play.
With no scoring in the third period the teams met in overtime to decide a victor. Lake Cowichan's Kananga Mangala potted the game winner on a breakaway with just a few minutes remaining in the extra frame. It was his first goal of the year.
The Kraken played host to the Westshore Wolves on Friday, Oct. 4 and paid a visit to Kerry Park to face the Islanders on Saturday, Oct. 6 but those results weren't available by the Gazette's press time.