The Beaver Valley Nitehawks went toe-to-toe with the Nelson Leafs on Tuesday and came away with a well-deserved 2-1 victory in Nelson.
Nitehawks forward Gavin Tritt scored the game winning goal 2:19 into the third period, on a set up from Nathan Dominici and Timothy Jozsa. The goal was the Spokane product’s third of the season, and none more timely.
After a scoreless first period, Seamus Boyd notched his fifth of the season for the Leafs 3:18 into the middle frame for a 1-0 lead. But the Nitehawks rallied dominating the Leafs and outshooting them 16-9 in the period.
Nitehawks forward Jeremy Hanson found the equalizer on the power play with 1:45 left. Hanson fired an Austin McKenzie pass by the Leafs goalie for his sixth of the season to set up a dramatic finish in the third.
After Tritt put the Hawks up 2-1, the Neil Murdoch Division leading Leafs pressed for the equalizer, firing 16 shots at Connor Stojan in the final frame but could not beat the Grand Prairie product.
Nelson outshot Beaver Valley 34-32 in the game, and went 0-for-4 on the power play, while B.V. was 1-for-3.
The win improves the Nitehawks record to 11-8-0-2, and Nelson remains atop the division at 14-4-2-1 .
Beaver Valley returns to the Hawks Nest on Friday for a return tilt against the Leafs at 7 p.m. and plays the Princeton Posseon Saturday.
The Nitehawks will also be having a food drive this weekend and is asking fans to bring a non-perishable item to the Dec. 2 and 3 games for local food banks.