Warriors clip Eagles, Vees goalie nears shut-out record
One of Penticton’s goalies posted his fourth consecutive shutout and is close to record territory, while West Kelowna beat the B.C. Hockey League’s second-best team during action this past weekend.
The Penticton Vees won 4-0 in Cranbrook on Saturday night, then picked up a 3-2 win in Trail during a Sunday matinee.
West Kelowna downed the host Surrey Eagles 5-3 on Friday, then fell 3-2 to the Coquitlam Express on Saturday.
The Vernon Vipers split a two-game set in Prince George, winning 5-3 on Friday and losing 4-2 on Saturday.
The Vees (44-32-7-3) are in sole possession of first place in the BCHL with 69 points, one up on the Coastal Conference-leading Surrey Eagles (33-7-2-0).
The Warriors (27-10-8-0) are in second place in the Interior Conference with 62 points and third overall in the BCHL.
The Vipers (26-17-1-0) are fourth in the Interior Conference, two points back of the Salmon Arm Silverbacks (26-15-0-3).
A pair of Surrey Eagles, Caden Cranston and Aaron Schwartz, lead the BCHL in scoring with 68 and 61 points, respectively.
Felix Caron of the Warriors is third with 27 goals and 55 points.
Callum Arnott leads the Vees in scoring with 24 goals and 44 points.
Owen Kim is the Vipers’ leading scorer with 12 goals and 39 points.
Meanwhile, Vees goaltender Will Ingemann has posted shutouts in his last four consecutive starts and now has six on the season – one off the BCHL record.
Ingemann, an 18-year-old native of Plymouth, Minn., also boasts the BCHL’s best goals-against average at 1.75.
Vernon 5, Prince George 3
A late push by the host Prince George Spruce Kings (14-27-3-0) came up just short on Friday in the first of a twogame weekend set against the visiting Vernon Vipers.
Vernon led 3-0 at the midway point of the contest, before the Spruce Kings’ scorers went to work and got to within a goal of tying it before Julian Facchinelli sealed the win with an empty-netter late in the third period.
The Vipers led 1-0 and 4-1 at the intermissions, plus held a 43-32 advantage in shots.
Luke Bibby, Anthony Cliché, Shea Busch and Ewan McPherson also scored for Vernon, who put up netminder Ethan David.
Alexis Cournoyer, JR Perdion and Killian McGregor-Bennett replied for Prince George, who started Charlie Zolin in net.
West Kelowna 5, Surrey 3 The West Kelowna Warriors delivered a message Friday with a come-frombehind 5-3 win over the high-flying Surrey Eagles.
Down 2-0 after the first period, the Warriors scored the next four and then hung on for dear life until Jackson Kyrkostas sealed the win with an empty-netter late in the game.
Felix Caron, Callum Hughes, Jack Pridham and Owen Drury also tallied for West Kelowna. Aaron Schwartz, with two, and Ryder Evers replied for Surrey.
Shots were 26-23 in favour of West Kelowna, which started netminder Rorke Applebee. Ajeet Gundarah took the loss for Surrey.
Prince George 4,
Vernon 2
A four-goal outburst in the second period proved too much to handle as the Vernon Vipers fell 4-2 on Saturday night to the host Prince George Spruce Kings.
Adam Csabi opened the scoring early in the second period to give the Vipers a 1-0 lead, but the Spruce Kings scored the next four goals to take a 4-1 lead into the third period.
Georgios Stavrianeas scored early in the third period for Vernon to make it 4-2.
JR Peridon and Linden Makow each scored twice for Prince George, which had a 33-23 advantage in shots.
Ethan David took the loss in Vernon’s net. Ryan Sanborn claimed the win for Prince George.
The same clubs meet for a third consecutive game this coming Friday at 7 p.m. in Vernon. West Kelowna visits on Saturday night.
Penticton 4, Cranbrook 0
Will Ingemann had to block just 14 shots for to pick up his fourth consecutive shutout as the Penticton Vees silenced the host Cranbrook Bucks (1925-2-0) in a 4-0 win on Saturday night.
Penticton opened the scoring midway through the first period and led 1-0 and 3-0 at the intermissions.
James Fisher, Connor MacPherson, Conyr Hellyer and Zack Stringer were the Vees’ scorers.
Penticton had a 36-14 edge in shots. The BCHL record for shutouts in a single season is seven, and shared by three goalies: Brad Thiessen, Merritt/ Prince George (2005-06); Michael Garteig, Powell River (2010-11); and Ty Taylor, Vernon (2017-18).
Coquitlam 3,
West Kelowna 2 (OT)
It doesn’t get much closer than this one.
After a see-saw affair through regulation time, Jacob Bonkowski scored when it really counted about five minutes into overtime to deliver the Coquitlam Express (20-20-1-3) a 3-2 win Saturday over the visiting West Kelowna Warriors.
The teams exchanged goals throughout and were tied 1-1 and 2-2 at the first and second intermissions, respectively.
Callum Hughes and Jackson Kyrkostas tallied for West Kelowna, which had Rorke Applebee in net. James Shannon and Jake Manfre scored for Coqutilam, which had Ethan Simcoe between the pipes.
The Warriors are back in action Friday at 7 p.m. to host the Trail Smoke Eaters, then visit the Vernon Vipers on Saturday night.
Penticton 3,
Trail 2
Sunday’s matinee game in Trail was a horror show in the early going for the Penticton Vees.
Down 2-0 early in the third period, the Vees flipped the script and scored three unanswered goals to steal a 3-2 win from the Smoke Eaters (21-17-60).
James Fisher sparked the comeback about five minutes into the final frame, before Anselmo Rego tied it about three minutes later and Simon Meier notched the game-winner with just under five minutes to play.
Adam Parsons and Chase Stefanek replied for Trail, which started netminder Ryan Parker.
Shots were 32-28 in favour of Penticton, which started goaltender Andrew Ness.
The Vees open a three-game home stand Friday night when the Langley Rivermen (14-26-5-0) visit for a 7:15 p.m. start, then keep it going Saturday with a 7 p.m. date against the Coquitlam Express.