The North Okanagan Knights are the latest Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL) team to fall to a powerhouse Osoyoos Coyotes squad.
The Knights fell to the Coyotes 9-2 on the road at the Sun Bowl Arena Wednesday night, their sixth straight defeat. Two Coyotes players finished the game with hat tricks.
Despite the lopsided final score it was the Knights who hit the scoreboard first, with Adam Mueller tallying his eighth goal of the season on the powerplay.
Osoyoos then scored goals less than two minutes apart from Noah Eisenhut and Kaleb Kremp. Tegan Neuman scored later in the period to put the Coyotes up 3-1 after one.
The Knights got back into the game early in the second as Kyle Bax scored his eighth of the year, assisted by Riley Zdan. But it was all Coyotes for the rest of the period as Neuman scored twice to net the hat trick. 7-2 Coyotes after two.
Eisenhut scored his third of the game midway through the third to secure his hat trick, and Jack Henderson added another goal for good measure in the final five minutes of play.
The Coyotes have lost just two games in regulation all season and sit atop the league standings with 59 points in 34 games. The Knights are fourth in the Bill Ohlhausen Division with 22 points in 31 games.
The Knights return home for a game against the Princeton Posse Friday, Jan. 28.
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