WESTERN CANADA CUP

Media Update

Release date: Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Photo credit: Cherie Morgan Photography

Game No. Five
Bandits Remain Undefeated With 4-1 Victory Over North Stars

By: Trevor Miller

PENTICTON, B.C- Despite being shorthanded nine times and given six straight penalties, the Brooks Bandits had no problem keeping their perfect Western Canada Cup record intact, moving to 3-0-0 in the tournament with a 4-1 victory over the Battlefords North Stars on Tuesday afternoon at the Western Canada Cup.

The Bandits scored just 25 seconds into the opening period of play and did not look back from there, scoring twice in the first frame, once in the 2nd period and once again in the 3rd frame to secure themselves a spot in Saturday’s playoff round.

Parker Foo scored the goal just 25 seconds into the hockey game on a wraparound attempt that slid under the right pad of North Stars netminder Joel Gryzbowski to earn Brooks the early one-goal advantage.

The Bandits took a 2-0 lead at the 6:44 mark of the opening period as Arnaud Vachon completed a pretty tic-tac-toe passing play from Oliver Chau and Dennis Cesana to give Brooks a two-goal lead. Despite a five-minute major penalty to Battlefords’ Jared Blaquiere, the Bandits could not convert on the power play but went to the dressing room with that 2-0 lead intact.

Oliver Chau and Josh McKechney converted on an odd man rush to give the Bandits a 3-0 advantage with Chau finishing off a blocker side pass from McKechney, one of his three assists of the afternoon, at the 9:59 mark of the 2nd period.

Battlefords had plenty of opportunities to get back into the game, including a string of five straight power play throughout the middle stanza and converted on one of those chances at the 12:29 mark of the period as Keaton Holinaty redirected a Coby Downs pass past Bandits goaltender Mitchell Benson for a 3-1 Brooks lead.

The lone goal of the 3rd period came courtesy of a breakaway as Conner Jean was spotted out of the penalty box from McKechney and delivered with a goal through the five-hole for a 4-1 Brooks advantage and give the AJHL Champions their third straight win of the tournament.

Final: 4-1 Brooks

The Bandits (3-0-0) close their WCC round-robin action with a matchup against the Portage Terriers (1-1-0) in the lone game on Wednesday night, a 7:00 PM PST puck drop while Battlefords faces a must-win scenario on Thursday afternoon when they take on the Chilliwack Chiefs (1-1-0) at 2:00 PM PST. All Western Canada Cup contests are streamed live online, or on demand, at HockeyTV.com.