It was an appropriate end to a memorable weekend for the Northern Capitals.
The U18 female AAA hockey team made the homecoming for Lauren Baker, Taylor Siemens and Sarah Prestmo that much sweeter, edging the Fraser Valley Rush 3-2 from the Vanderhoof Arena.
Nicole Bateman put the Caps in front at the 7:29 mark of the first period as her perfectly timed deflection via a Breanna Hunter pass ended up in the back of the Rish net for a 1-0 lead.
Gabriella Verbian evened the score for Fraser Valley prior to intermission as a shot bounced off the boards and her rebound shot bounced off the pad of Caps goalie Payton Planetta and in.
In the second, the Capitals were the only team light the lamp courtesy of Ali Caron giving them a 2-1 edge after 40 minutes.
Smithers product Gabriella Meier made it a 3-1 margin at 14:41 of the third period as her deflection off a point shot from Staysha Heibert found its way past Rush netminder Keira Pong.
Dylann Nelson trimmed the deficit to one at the buzzer for Fraser Valley.
The Capitals (11-10-0-1) outshot the Rush (7-11-1-2) 42-21.
Prestmo, Baker and Siemens, who are all from Vanderhoof swept the three stars.
The Capitals are back in action Saturday (4:00pm) and Sunday (10:00 am) against the Thompson-Okanagan Lakers (9-10-2-3) from Vernon.
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