VIJHL Game Summary 1.3.25
Peninsula 5 Westshore 4
First star Alex Sajan scored three goals, including the winner late in the third period to enable the Peninsula Panthers to escape with a 5-4 win over the Westshore Wolves in Saturday night VIJHL South Division semi-final action in front of 173 fans at Juan de Fuca Arena.
Sajan’s winner came on a partial breakaway when he pinged the inside of the far post with a wicked wrister, turning the tide that saw Westshore score three straight goals to tie the entertaining, back-and-forth contest. Peninsula now leads the series 3-1, and game five goes Monday in Peninsula.
Kenyan Price and Jacob Caron also scored for Peninsula and third star Ethan Lingard added two assists, with Merik Grinaker stopping 24 shots in the Panthers cage.
Second star Noah Gebicki had two goals and Kansys Seney and Parker Atkinson one each for the Wolves, with netminder Dryden Demelo finishing with 32 saves.
Victoria 4 Kerry Park 10
Kerry Park stormed back with six straight goals to turn a 3-1 first period Victoria lead into a 10-4 Islanders victory in front of 306 fans at Kerry Park Arena to cut the Cougar’s South Division playoff series lead in half, to 2-1.
First star Jobey Pearson, Carson Brown, Benjamin Stocks and Bryce Burnett each scored twice for the regular season champion Islanders, with single goals coming from second star Colby Robinson and Raydon Parkes, with goalie Ethan Taylor stopping 16 shots for the win.
Third star Kelton Shinde with two, and Jussi Saarni and Austin Garrett with one each tallied for Victoria, which trailed 6-3 after the second period. Ryder Lally and Jesse Pye combined to make 29 saves for the Cougars.
Kerry Park travels to Victoria for game four Sunday afternoon, with Comox Valley visiting Port Alberni down 2-0 and Campbell River in Lake Cowichan to possibly close out the series with a 3-0 lead in the two North Division semi-final contests.