Kelowna Chiefs edged by North Okanagan Knights

It was a hard loss for the Kelowna Chiefs Saturday night as they wrapped up their regular season on the road.

Kelowna was defeated 6-5 in overtime by the North Okanagan Knights at Nor-Val Centre.

Adam Beatty (1G, 1A) scored the first goal of the match-up, helping the Chiefs take the early lead.  It didn’t last long as North Okanagan scored twice before the end of 20 minutes of play.

Trailing 2-1 in the second, Kelowna knew they needed to get in the game.  Matthew Naka scored one while Braeden Cyra (2G, 1A) added two, both on the power play.  By the end of the period, Kelowna was up 4-3.

In the third period, the Knights scored twice to take the lead but Kelowna kept the pressure on and with 1:32 remaining Jagger Bowles (1G, 1A) tied things up, forcing the extra period.

In the end, T.J. Christensen scored in the overtime period and North Okanagan defeated the Chiefs 6-5.

Kelowna AP goaltender Nick Crowder faced 33 shots in net to complete his first entire game for the Chiefs.  Previously Crowder had only split time between the pipes.

Rutland’s very own Kelowna Chiefs finish the regular season in second place of the Okanagan Division of the KIJHL.  The team racked up 31 wins, 17 losses and 4 overtime losses on the season, good for 66 points.

The team will now prepare to face the Osoyoos Coyotes in round one of the playoffs beginning Tuesday February 25th at Rutland Arena.