It was a good weekend for the Castlegar Rebels.
The Rebels beat the North Okanagan Knights 4-0 on Saturday Oct. 17 at the Castlegar Complex and on Sunday they scored a 3-3 tie with the Kelowna Chiefs in Kelowna in a close game that even with overtime could not decide.
The Rebels are now one point behind first place Beaver Valley and three points ahead of the third place Nelson Leafs in the Neil Murdoch division of the KIJHL.
Saturday’s game opened with Rebels Chris Breese setting up teammate Chance Szott only a minute and ten seconds into the game.
The Rebels scored again near the halfway mark in the period with a pass from Darren Medeiros to Vince Bitonti.
The Rebels scored in the second period on a power play at 9:06 by Lindan Calliou, assisted by Tayden Woods.
The Rebels put the coup de grace on the Knights with only 23 seconds left in the game with a breakaway goal by Luke Madge beautifully.
The North Okanagan team were definitely putting pressure on the Rebel net throughout the game, but Castlegar Rebels goalie Joseph Mcleod seemed to almost magically halt pucks from crossing the line into the net. He registered a shutout stopping all 43 shots that came his way including 17 in the third period along with nine power play opportunities that somehow appeared powerless for the Knights.
The stand-out Rebel player for both games was Mcleod.
After Saturday’s well deserved shutout, he took on an onslaught of 53 shots form the Kelowna Chiefs, allowing only three goals. He was philosophical after Saturday’s game when asked about the game and how he dealt with the pressure.
“The guys worked really hard they made my job easy tonight,” he said. “I’m just doing my job.You just breath and think about the next save, knowing everything will workout and really enjoy the moment out there.”
The Rebels play again this Friday, Oct. 23 on home ice against the Spokane Braves. Puck drop is at 7 p.m. The Rebels play again on Sunday afternoon against the Princeton Posse. Puck drops at 2 p.m.