Wild Season Ends In Overtime Loss To Chiefs

Wenatchee, WA. – The Wenatchee Wild and Chilliwack Chiefs fought through three periods with no decision, before an overtime power play paved the way for a Chilliwack goal, giving the Chiefs a 3-2 win, giving them the series in five games.

Chilliwack scored first for the fourth straight game, as Jordan Kawaguchi scored 1:19 into the contest, assisted by Rylan Bechtel and Kale Kane, putting the Chiefs on top, 1-0. Wenatchee would tie it up on a Charlie Combs (St. Louis, MO.) power play goal, assisted by Kyle Stephan (Barrie, ON) and Mike Coyne (Buffalo, NY) at 8:45, knotting the game 1-1 after one.

After a scoreless second in which the Wild held a 14-5 shots advantage, Chilliwack would regain the lead in the third on a Dennis Chowlowski unassisted goal at 10:07, putting the Chiefs back on top, 2-1. However, Wenatchee’s Bryan Yoon (Parker, CO.) would rip one home from the mid-slot, off a feed from Brendan Harris (Las Vegas, NV). Blake Christensen (Lauderhill, FL) also assisted on the goal at 14:28, tying the game 2-2, forcing overtime.

In the extra session, a penalty on the Wild at 5:03 set up Chilliwack with a power play. And, it would take just 15 seconds for Kawaguchi to punch home a rebound at 5:18, assisted by Kane and Vimal Sukumaran, powering the Chiefs to the 3-2 win and a 4-1 series victory.

Wenatchee outshot Chilliwack in the game 33-30. Chase Perry (Andover, MN) made 27 saves for the Wild; Aidan Pelino made 31 saves for Chilliwack. Wenatchee went 1-for-2 on the power play and 3-of-4 on the penalty kill. “That’s a tough pill to swallow tonight.” said Wenatchee Wild Head Coach/General Manager Bliss Littler. “I thought we played exceptionally well, we played well enough in games 2,3,4,and 5, that we could have been celebrating tonight, coming off the ice with a 4-1 series win, we played that well. We had our chances for the breaks, their goaltender made a big save. I thought that Chase Perry gave us a chance all five games. I thought he was our MVP in the playoffs. I think this group, there were plenty of times we were down a goal or two throughout the year, couldn’t be more proud. I don’t think they ever gave up. We battled hard. I think we got everyone’s best game this year. I think people were fired up to play a team from the United States and no doubt there was a lot of patriotism on the ice. Just proud of the effort.”

The Wild finishes the season in the second round of the BCHL playoffs. Next up are tryout camps for the 2016-17 BCHL season. Information on those camps will be available on the team’s website, wenatcheewildhockey.com.

Battle for the Border