Billy Thompson scored the shootout winner, sending the 91原创 peewee A3 Eagles to the gold medal with a 5-4 victory over the North Okanagan Knights.
The 91原创 Minor Hockey Association squad was competing with seven other teams over the Thanksgiving long weekend in Vernon.
The Eagles faced the Knights in the championship final and found themselves trailing 3-1 with just one period to play. But the team dug down and rallied to tie the score at four and force overtime.
Neither team could score in the five-minute overtime meaning the gold medal would be decided via shootout.
After CJ Christensen and Jude Wessel scored on their shootout attempts 鈥� and after goaltender Bryan Keffer stopped the first North Okanagan shooter 鈥� a goal from Thompson would give 91原创 the gold medal.
And Thompson delivered, swooping in and scoring high to the glove side, sending the Eagles into a frenzied on-ice celebration.
鈥淎ll the kids played an important role in our success this weekend,鈥� said coach Darcy Pinch. 鈥淢ost importantly, the kids worked hard and they never gave up. When we had the chance to win at the end, we made it count.鈥�
The Eagles had gone 2-1 in the round robin and qualified for the gold medal game because of goal differential.
91原创 beat Prince George 10-2 with Kaden Maryschak notching a hat trick, and they beat the Nelson Leafs 7-3 with Nico Marini earning player of the game honours. The only blemish came in the first game when they lost 4-3 to the host Vernon Vipers, despite outshooting their opponent 50-15. Christensen scored twice in the loss.
