Nanaimo 4 Comox Valley 2
First star Aaron Pichette made 41 saves to backstop the Nanaimo Buccaneers to their first ever VIJHL Championship Final with a 4-2 win over the Comox Valley Glacier Kings Saturday night at the Comox Valley Sports Centre, winning their North Division series 4-2.
Following a scoreless first period, Nanaimo led 2-0 on goals by Dylan Konschuh and Curtis Freeman heading into the third and never trailed, as second star Dylan Lazaroff scored the eventual game winner before Comox Valley closed to within 3-2 on goals by Tee Hagel and third star Cameron Collins. Jack Barrett scored into an empty net to close out the scoring for the Bucs, who were the top team in the North Division regular season.
Ander Reyes finished with 27 stops for the hosts.
Nanaimo now awaits the winner of the South Division series, led 3-2 by the Peninsula Panthers over the Victoria Cougars, who host game six Sunday.
