The Cariboo Cougars will host the Okanagan Rockets in the BC Major Midget League semi-final starting Friday, March 15th.

The best-of-three series pits the second and third seeds against each other for a berth in the league final with the Cats looking for a fourth straight appearance in the championship series.

The semi-finals schedule is as follows:

Game 1 - Friday, March 15th 5:00pm
Game 2 - Saturday, March 16th 1:00pm
Game 3 (if necessary) - Sunday, March 17th, 10:15am

All games will be played at CN Centre.

The Cougars won their first-round series against the South Island Royals winning 4-3 and 5-1 for the sweep.

The Rockets advanced to the second round with a game three win over the Valley West Hawks.  The Canadians and NW Giants will meet in the other semi-final.

The Cariboo Cougars earned a 5-1 win Saturday to sweep the South Island Royals in the BC Major Midget best-of-three quarterfinal series and advance to the second round.

Just as was the case in game one Friday, the Cougars opened scoring in the first as Liam Blackburn scored his second of the playoffs from Logan Styler and Braiden Epp with just over three minutes to go taking the 1-0 lead into the second.

And again mirroring game one, the Royals tied it up early in the middle frame as Nick Guiney beat Nathan Warren.  The Cats re-took the lead just over three minutes later as Brad Morrison scored his first Major Midget playoff goal off a Ryan Forbes rebound.  Bryan Allbee then added his first of the post-season with a knucklepuck that fooled Royals goaltender Jesse Jenks to give the Cougars their first two goal lead of the series.

Epp scored his third of the playoffs 4:48 into the third to put the Cats up by three while Styler added one late on a power play.

Blackburn and Epp each had a four point game while Styler had a goal and two assists. 

The Cougars outshot the Royals 34-31 as Warren earned his second straight playoff win.  The Cats advance to host the BCMML semi-finals which will begin Friday, March 15th at CN Centre at 5:00pm.  The Cougars opponent for the best-of-three semi-final has yet to be determined but the Okanagan Rockets will be heading north to Prince George with a win Saturday night against the Valley West Hawks.

The Cariboo Cougars gave their hometown fans a scare but a pair of goals in the final four minutes of the third period earned a 4-3 come from behind win to take a 1-0 series lead over the South Island Royals in the best-of-three quarterfinal series.

Goaltending was the story Friday with Royals starter Jesse Jenks playing spectacular stopping 50 shots as the Cats outshot South Island 53-19 in front of a noisy crowd of 450 fans at the Prince George Coliseum.

Special teams was also key for both clubs with five of the game's seven goals scored on the power play.

Braiden Epp opened scoring midway through the first on the man advantage from Liam Blackburn and Logan Styler to take a 1-0 lead into the first intermission in a period that saw the Cougars outshoot the visitors 21-5.

The Royals responded early in the second with a power play goal of their own from Nick Kean to tie the game at one.  The Cats re-took the lead 2-1 with Epp's second of the game, also on the power play at the 6:51 mark.  The Royals replied once again just three and a half minutes later to tie the game at two with another power play goal before taking their first lead of the game just 23 seconds later with Kean's second.

Despite peppering Jenks with shots, the Cougars could not find the back of the net until Stephen Penner stepped into one from near the top of the faceoff circle to tie the game at three with just under four minutes on the clock.  Then just over a minute later Blackburn got the game winner from Penner and Styler.

The Cougars went 3/7 on the power play while allowing three power play goals against on five opportunities for the Royals.

Nathan Warren earnd his first Major Midget League playoff win as the Cats look for the series sweep of the Royals Saturday afternoon at 1:00pm at the Coliseum.

The Cariboo Cougars begin their quest for the Telus Cup Friday as their BCMML quarterfinal series begins against the seventh seed South Island Royals.

Finishing the regular season with an all-time team best record of 31-8-1, the Cats have earned the right to home ice advantage through the first two rounds of the post-season as the Royals make their second trip to Prince George in the last three weeks.

To say the Cougars dominated their first-round opponent in the regular season would be an understatement.  In four meetings, the Cats outscored South Island by a combined 29-3, easily sweeping the season series.  In three games against the Royals, Cougars goaltender Nathan Warren posted two shutouts letting in just one goal.  Finishing the regular season with a record of 11-22-7, the Royals franchise is making their first playoff appearance since 2010-2011.

The tale of the tape shows two very different teams with the Cougars finishing the regular season as the league's most potent offence scoring more goals than any other with 211.  Allowing just 103 against, the Cats are tied with the Okanagan Rockets for the second best goals against.  The Royals mustered about half the number of goals the Cats did with 108 while allowing 179, the highest total of any of the eight playoff clubs.  Another stark difference is the number of penalty minutes taken by each team.  The Royals finished middle of the pack with 657 through 40 games while the Cougars finished with the second highest at 915, an average of nearly 23 per game.

But all these numbers now mean nothing as the new season begins.  Game one of the best-of-three quarterfinal goes at 2:15pm Friday at the Prince George Coliseum with game two Saturday at 1:00pm, also at the Coliseum.  If necessary, a third and deciding game will be played Sunday at 9:15am.  Admission is by donation.  All games will be available live at cariboocougars.ca.