Westshore 7 Port Alberni 4
Three goals in each of the first and third periods powered the Westshore Wolves to a 7-4 win over the host Port Alberni Bombers as 293 fans watched at the Alberni Valley Multiplex in Sunday VIJHL play.
Westshore, the only undefeated team in the VIJHL at 7-0 to lead the South Division, led 3-1 and 4-3 by periods, and were led by first star Jasper Fellbaum who potted a goal and three assists, with other goals coming from Samuel Wong with two, Sam Spring, Trace Anderson, Jack MacMillan and Dexter Spring. Second star of the contest was Noah Gebicki who chipped in three assists, and goalie Mathias Ramos-Gadbois made 23 stops in the Wolves lair.
Third star Kilian Alves Pereira, Domenico Tremblay, Ryan Christenson and Cole Campbell had the Bombers markers, and Ethan Losier has a busy game in net, making 47 saves.
Nanaimo 2 Campbell River 6
A four-goal first frame enabled the Campbell River Storm to defeat the Nanaimo Buccaneers 6-2 as 450 watched at Rod Brind’Amour Arena.
AJ Boyd with two, and singles from first star Simon Nizhnikov, Carson Woolcott, Simon Nizhnikov and Aidan Yu counted for the scoring for the winners, who led 4-0 and 5-1 by periods and received a fine 45 save performance from Rhys Penninga, finishing with 45 saves. Ryder Tanner contributed three assists and earned second star honours.
Nanaimo’s goals came from Treyce Pavlic and Rylan Maughan, and goalies Lou Batista Buhler and Carter Puska combined to make 40 saves in the Bucs net.
Saanich 2 Lake Cowichan 6
Lake Cowichan Kraken broke open a tight game starting in the second period, scoring the last five goals of the game in a 6-2 win over the Saanich Predators at the Cowichan Lake Sports Arena.
First star Cameron Jefferies, second star Nikita Melnichenok, Erik Freiheit, Jaxon Woodward, Blaine Wilson and Thomas Harrow counted goals for the Kraken, which overcame a 1-0 first period deficit to lead 3-2 heading into the third. Third star of the game was netminder Noah Pfab with 23 saves in the Kraken cage.
Saanich had 38 saves from goalie Michael Roof and goals from Maxime Simard and Travis Swanson.
Peninsula 2 Victoria 1
Luke Christensen had both goals for Peninsula, including the winner late in the third period, giving the Panthers a 2-1 win over the Victoria Cougars at Save On Foods Memorial Centre.
Both periods ended in ties – 0-0 and 1-1 – and Peninsula goalie Nicholas Smelser blocked 26 pucks to earn the win.
James Clarke had the lone Cougars goal and netminder Armaan Kaila finished with 25 saves in the contest.
