Image credit: Prince George Cougars/X

By Marty Hastings

COUGARS ADVANCE

Funk hat-trick helps Cougars advance to Western Conference final

Apr 20, 2024 | 9:34 AM

PRINCE GEORGE — Zac Funk tallied his first post-season hat-trick to help his Prince George Cougars reach the Western Conference final for the fourth time in club history.

The Cats doubled the Kelowna Rockets 6-3 in front of a sellout crowd of 6,014 on Friday (April 19) at CN Centre to clinch a 4-1 victory in the best-of-seven conference semifinal series.

Prince George will square off against the U.S. Division-winning Portland Winterhawks in Round 3, with Game 1 slated for Friday (April 26), a 7 p.m. start at CN Centre.

Portland dispatched the Everett Silvertips 4-0 in their conference semifinal series, earning the sweep with a 5-0 shellacking of the hometown Tips on Friday.

The Winterhawks have not yet dropped a game in this post-season, thanks in part to a sweep of the Victoria Royals in Round 1.

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Prince George’s only defeat during the playoffs came at the hands of the Rockets, a 2-1 loss in Game 4 on Wednesday in Kelowna.

The Cougars vanquished the Spokane Chiefs 4-0 in Round 1.

On Friday, Riley Heidt notched four points, including two goals, and Jett Lajoie added a single in support of Joshua Ravensbergen, who made 28 saves to pick up the win between the pipes.

Andrew Cristall, Tij Iginla and Gabriel Szturc tallied for the Rockets, whose goaltender, Jari Kykkanen, stopped 33 shots in a losing effort.