A youthful Penticton Vees squad opened their BCHL exhibition schedule with 5-3 loss at Kal-Tire Place in Vernon on Saturday.
The Vees young prospects made a significant impact on the game. 17-year-old Adam Sinclair (St. Andrews College) led the way offensively for the Vees, picking up a pair of goals. 16-year-old Jesse Lansdell (Yale Hockey Academy) scored the only other Vees goal.
15-year-old Penticton product Shane Farkas started in goal and was rock solid, stopping 29 of 31 Vernon shots in thirty-minutes of work. One of his best stops was denying a Vernon breakaway in the opening moments of the second period.
Vernon opened the scoring 2:50 into the first period as Matthew Jallabert tapped-in a puck at the side of the net. The Vees were on their heels in the first, as Vernon fired 22 shots on the Vees net.
Penticton found its legs in the second, as Jesse Lansdell drew the Vees level after finishing off a pretty passing play 7:20 into the middle stanza. Lansdell, Chase Stevenson (OHA Bantam) and Tak Anholt (Yale Hockey Academy) orchestrated a slick series of passes down-low in the Vernon zone.
Vernon regained the lead not long after the Vees drew level, when defenseman Cameron Trott’s heavy point-shot found its way over Shane Farkas glove; the goal coming just as the Vees penalty had expired.
Just like with the first Vernon goal, the Vees had an answer for the go-ahead marker by Trott. Late in the second, Sinclair scored his first of two at 17:36, when Nicholas Wilson (Surrey Bantam) spotted him at the top of the Vipers crease from behind the net.
Vernon pulled ahead once again just seventy-six seconds in the third period courtesy of Branden Saretsky shoving the puck in at the near-post. Jackson Nauss extended the Vipers lead at 2:58 when he put the finishing touches on a tick-tack-toe passing play.
The Vees made it a one-goal game five-minutes later, as Sinclair again found himself with the puck at the top of the Vipers crease; Nathan Iannone threading the needle to Sinclair from behind the goal-line.
However, Vernon put the game out of reach 9:30 into the third period courtesy of a sharp-angled shot by Mackenzie Bauer on the right-wing.
Final Score: 5-3 Vernon
Shots: 46-19 Vernon
Three Stars: 1) Branden Saretsky 2) Adam Sinclair [PEN] 3) Logan Geefs
The Vees exhibition schedule continues next weekend, when they tangle with the West Kelowna Warriors in a home-and-home set. The Vees host the Tribe at the SOEC on Friday, September 5th; face-off is 7pm. Tickets are just $5 and available at the Valley First Box Office at the SOEC.
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