The Northwest Giants added to their best B.C. major midget hockey league start, knocking off the Valley West Hawks in a two-game series.
Mateo Coltellaro of Burnaby scored his second goal of the season to give the Giants a 6-5 win against the Hawks in Langley last Saturday.
Ryland Chernomaz potted a pair of back-to-back markers between the second and third periods to ensure the Burnaby Winter Club-based team won 5-2 over Valley West at home on Sunday.
The wins improved the Giants’ first-place record to 10-0, one point better than the Cariboo Cougars and two games in hand over the runner-up club.
In Langley, the Giants led 5-3 following a three-goal flurry in the middle stanza.
Valley West countered with two goals a minute apart early in the final period to knot the contest and set up Coltellaro’s eventual game-winner.
At home, Justin Wilson had an early goal and an assist, and Austin McQuay and captain Keegan Jones assisted on a pair of goals apiece to put the Giants up 4-1 heading into the third period.
The early 10-0 start is reminiscent of the Giants’ 18-0 run two season’s ago. But this year, its’ been accomplished despite injuries to key players.
“We’ve just been plugging along,” said Giants’ head coach Clint Thornton. “What’s most encouraging is we’re 10-0 and nobody is in top 10 scoring.
“The kids are motivated. … It’s a team first attitude and that’s what’s paying off.”
The Giants face the fourth-place Northeast Giants this weekend, beginning Saturday at 5:30 p.m. in Squamish before winding up the weekend at Planet Ice in Coquitlam with a mid-morning fixture on Sunday.
