Saanich 3 Victoria 7
A hat trick from first star Ben Wetterberg led the Victoria Cougars to a 7-3 victory over the Saanich Predators in Thursday night VIJHL action at Archie Browning Arena.
Victoria (28-8-3 for 59 points) opened up a three point lead for second place in the South Division over the Westshore Wolves and led 2-1 and 4-2 by periods. Second star Ethan Davey had two goals and Kelton Shinde and Simon Semancik had singles, with Jesse Pye blocking 22 shots in the Cougars cage.
Saanich (7-31-1 for 15 points, fourth in South) had goals from third star Koen Gauthier, Linden Hoskins and Von Parsons. George Jantz was busy, making 42 saves between the Predators pipes.
Oceanside 1 Nanaimo 7
Newcomer Dylan Konschuh fired two goals and second star, goalie Aaron Pichette stopped 25 shots to help the Nanaimo Buccaneers arrest the Oceanside Generals 7-1 in a battle of the top two teams in the North Division as 375 fans watched at Nanaimo Ice Centre.
Nanaimo (27-10-1 for 55 points) opened up a four point lead over Oceanside for first place, and the Bucs have two games in hand. They led 3-0 and 6-1 by periods, with their other goal scorers being Boston Cripps, Nate Barclay, Rhys Wilcox, Madden Cruickshank and Ethan Nordli. Kane Law added an assist and was named third star.
Reid Ronning had the lone goal for Oceanside (25-14-1 for 51 points), as goalies Levi Hollatz and Ethan Suhr combined to make 17 saves in the contest.
