A pair of losses to the defending provincial champions has dropped the Valley West Hawks from first to fourth place in the BC Hockey Major Midget League.
The Hawks fell to the Vancouver Giants 5-3 Saturday morning at the Langley Events Centre, then dropped a 4-2 decision in a rematch Sunday in Burnaby.
With an 8-4-0 (won-lost-tied) record, Valley West trails the Okanagan Rockets by two points, and the Giants and Vancouver Chiefs by one.
The Giants led 1-0 after one period, and were up 4-0 late in the second period before Mitch Newsome of Surrey got the Hawks on the scoreboard. Vancouver made it 5-1 early in the third period, before White Rock’s Devante Stephens and Newsome replied for Valley West.
Sunday’s rematch was in doubt until the Giants broke a 1-1 tie with two goals in the third period. Newsome had both goals for Valley West, the second pulling the Hawks to within a goal at 3-2 with two minutes to go.
The Giants clinched the game with an empty net goal.
The Hawks will face-off twice against the 2-7-1 Fraser Valley Thunderbirds next weekend, with games Saturday in Abbotsford and Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Langley Events Centre.