YOUNG SCORES GAME-WINNER AS OKANAGAN CAPTURES VARSITY DIVISION GOLD MEDAL

CALGARY, Alta. – Brett Young scored two goals, including the game-winner, and added one assist, while Darren Martin made 38 saves, as the Okanagan Hockey Academy skated to a 5-2 victory over Rothesay Netherwood School to capture the inaugural World Sport School Challenge Varsity Division gold medal on Wednesday.

Rothesay jumped out to an early 1-0 lead as Mitch Byrne started with the puck behind his own goal, went end-to-end, split the Okanagan defense and put the puck in the back of the net. Erik Hamelin pulled Okanagan even with 2:04 left in the period, making it a 1-1 game after 20 minutes.

With Rothesay on a power-play early in the second period, it was Okanagan that was able to pull-ahead as Daniel Nault capped off a short-handed rush with a blistering shot to make it 2-1. Just moments after Rothesay goaltender Adam Higdon made a big, breakaway save, Rothesay came right back down the ice, as Mitchell Vanderlaan skated right into the slot and rifled one past Okanagan goaltender, Martin, sending the teams to the locker room tied 2-2, after two periods.

Okanagan took the lead 6:46 into the third period as Tyson Taylor found Young in front of the net with a nifty pass from behind the net, and Young was able to bury the puck behind Higdon. Just 59 seconds later Drew Carter banged home a rebound to make it 4-2 and Young added an empty-netter, his second goal of the game, while Martin was solid the rest of the way, making 13 of his 38 saves in the final period, securing the victory for Okanagan.

Okanagan went 2-1 in the preliminary round, which included a 7-1 loss to Rothesay on Day 3. They bested Edge School – Maroon, 5-0 in the quarter-finals before ousting Edge School – Gold by a score of 6-3 in the semifinals. Rothesay went a perfect 3-0 in the preliminary round, which earned them a bye straight to the semi-finals, where they defeated Banff 7-2.