The Similkameen News Leader
Sports Page - January 16, 2007
POSSE LOSES TO DIVISION RIVALS
Strong, powerful and amazing are all words that describe the Valley First Princeton Posse in their last few games.
Coming off an overloaded schedule that put four games in five days the first week of this month - where the Posse took six of a possible eight points - a tired and worn out team would have been expected.
Instead, Princeton fans were treated to a solid team when they played host to division rivals Summerland Sting on January 10th.
The first ten minutes of play saw a fast and focused Posse make some solid plays.
Action on the ice continued to be intense to the point where tempers flared and a few elbows and fists were used to establish territory by players on both teams.
Summerland scored first at 14:07 on the power play. The period ended with Summerland leading 1 to 0.
In the second period Princeton was not as solid as in the first, but the intensity level was up a notch with players making hard hits and firing rockets on goal.
Summerland scored their second goal at 9:45 when Princeton's goalie Evan Karambelas was drawn out of his crease and couldn't get back in position to stop a shot off the rebound.
Play continued to be high spirited with fists used more than once after a whistle to make a point or to generally say hello to a player not seen for a while.
There's no doubt a lot of rivalry between these teams and it showed in the stands as well with the fans.
The third period saw Summerland score again at 2:45 and near the end of the period Princeton Coach Dale 'Duner' Hladun pulled Karambelas for an extra attacker.
Princeton's six man combination kept the puck in Summerland territory for what seemed to be hours until a Summerland player managed to get some wood on the puck to clear it away from the Sting goal.
The puck went off the boards and into the empty Posse net.
Although Princeton hammered Summerland 34 shots to 20, the Sting goalie, Carson Loveday, stood his ground and earned a shut out.
Final score: Summerland 4, Princeton 0.
