Westshore 4 Victoria 3 (OT)
First star Sam Spring’s goal at 3:20 of overtime helped the Westshore Wolves bite the Victoria Cougars 4-3 in Thursday night VIJHL play in front of 190 fans at Archie Browning Arena.
Westshore led 1-0 after the first period and the second stanza ended in a 1-1 tie before each club scored twice in the final frame, including Trace Anderson’s tying goal with 47 seconds left. Kansys Seney and Linkin Diedoba had the other goals and Ander Reyes and James Hall teamed up for 31 saves in goal for the Wolves (15-2-1), which opened up a four point lead atop the South Division.
Second star Luke Reinhart, Brandon Smith and league leading scorer Joseph Melichar with his 18th goal of the season scored for Victoria, as third star Jesse Pye finished with 36 saves in net.
Port Alberni 1 Nanaimo 3
Nanaimo Buccaneers led all the way in a 3-1 victory over the Port Alberni Bombers as 225 looked on at Nanaimo Ice Centre and took over first place in the North Division.
Nanaimo led 1-0 and 3-1 by periods, and had goals from first star Nate Barclay, Rhys Wilcox and Porter Williamson, with Dylan Lazaroff earning second star honours. Netminder Aaron Pichette made 27 stops to earn the win.
Third star McCall Nault had the lone Bombers tally, and Joseph Naccarato finished with 21 saves in the Port Alberni cage.
With the win, Nanaimo (9-5-1) moved one point ahead of the Oceanside Generals and the Campbell River Storm, both of which has played one more game.
