The Prince George Cougars 2015-16 season came to an end Wednesday night after some early overtime heroics from the Seattle Thunderbirds. Nolan Volcan scored his second goal of the game 34 seconds into the overtime period to give Seattle the 4-3 overtime decision and a 4-0 series sweep of the Prince George Cougars. Chase Witala, Jansen Harkins and Jared Bethune had the goals for the Cougars which came unanswered starting late in the first period. In goal  Ty Edmonds made 35 saves on the 39 shots he faced for the Cougars while Landon  Bow stopped 21 of 24 fired his way in the Seattle net.

Seattle jumped out to a 2-0 lead within the first 7:39 of the game thanks to quick goals from Scott Eansor (4:30) and Nolan Volcan (7:39). Back came the Cougars though at the 14:04 mark when Jansen Harkins took a Brad Morrison pass and slid a low shot past a sprawling Landon Bow for his second of the playoffs.

After one the shots were 13-7 for Seattle, but the Cougars were starting to turn momentum in their favor and it translated into success in the middle period.

At 11:07 of the second period Chase Witala tied the score at two when he raced in two-on-two with Tate Olson. Olson slid a pass to Witala in the slot and he out-waited Bow and ripped a shot past his glove to send the crowd of 3000-plus into a frenzy. Jared Bethune then gave the Cougars the lead with a power play marker 1:34 later to make the game 3-2. It was Jared Bethune’s first ever WHL playoff goal and it stuck as the Cougars took a 3-2 lead into the second intermission.

At the 9:20 mark of the third period, Ethan Bear tied the score for the Seattle Thunderbirds on a power play. Mathew Barzal stopped along the left boards, flipped a pass across the ice to Bear in the right circle, and Bear made no mistake for his second of the series, and a 3-3 tie.

The final 10:40 solved nothing as both Landon Bow and Ty Edmonds made some terrific stops, and for a second time in the series overtime would be needed.

Again though it would be Seattle who came through as Nolan Volcan pounced on a Mathew Barzal rebound, turned to his left and slid the puck home past Ty Edmonds to clinch the Game 4 victory and the series victory for the Seattle Thunderbirds.

The Cougars finished the night one-for-three on the power play while the T-Birds went one-for-two. The final shots favored Seattle 39-24.

With the victory, Seattle now advances to the second round where they will meet the Everett Silvertips in the Western Conference semi-final.

For Cougars 20-year-olds Chase Witala, Luke Harrison and Joe Carvalho, a tragic end to their successful WHL careers. The Cougars will now head into the offseason looking to build even further off of a successful 2015-16 regular season that saw many franchise milestones eclipsed! Stay tuned to www.pgcougars.com in the coming days for more news and reaction from the 2015-16 season.