The Penticton Vees (4-0-0-0) look to push their season-opening win streak to five games as they conclude their BCHL Showcase schedule with their only matchup this season against the Surrey Eagles (1-3-0-0) on Thursday afternoon at the Chilliwack Coliseum.
REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE VS. SURREY
Thursday, October 21st @ Chilliwack Coliseum (1:00 PM)
The Vees will look to push their season-opening win streak to five games after earning a 4-1 victory over the Langley Rivermen on Wednesday night in Chilliwack. Luc Wilson tallied a pair of power play goals while Bradley Nadeau scored a 2nd period marker and Stefano Bottini added an empty net tally in the victory. Colin Purcell picked up his second win as a member of the Vees, turning aside 15 of the 16 shots thrown his way in the Vees crease.
The Vees and Eagles will meet on Thursday for the first time since February 5th, 2020 when Surrey made a visit to the South Okanagan Events Centre. Penticton collected a pair of wins over the Eagles in the two-game season series which also saw the Vees register a 5-3 win at South Surrey Arena in early November.
Vees Leading Scorers:
Fin Williams (2-4-6)
Josh Nadeau (3-2-5)
Luc Wilson (3-2-5)
Frank Djurasevic (0-4-4)
Stefano Bottini (2-1-3)
Stefano Bottini came into his second season with the Vees after scoring four goals and eight points in 17 games during the Penticton Pod last season and had scored in back-to-back games once, adding to that total on Wednesday night. The Lugano, Switzerland native had goals in back-to-back games to conclude the Pod season and, dating back to those regular season games, Bottini has scored in four of his last six regular season games.
16-year-old Bradley Nadeau is in a similar boat as Bottini, collecting a goal in his second consecutive game on Wednesday night, including that one being a game-winning marker. The University of Maine commit has gotten quite comfortable in the BC Hockey League, now holding a pair of goals and an assist in four games played this season.
After an 0-for-12 drought to begin the season on the man advantage, the Vees were finally able to strike on the power play with a pair of goals to help them to the three-goal victorious effort. Luc Wilson scored the two power play markers, bringing his total up to 3 goals on the season, tying Josh Nadeau for the team lead, while the two goals on the PP were Wilson’s 21st and 22nd career power play tallies.
The Surrey Eagles make their way into Thursday’s matinee as the rested of the two teams and coming off of their first win of the season, defeating the Rivermen by a 4-3 score in a shootout at South Surrey Arena. Jake Bongo, Cole Galata and Michael Abgrall each scored in regulation for the Eagles before Holdin Cardinal was the lone scorer in the six-round shootout. Eli Pulver made 31 saves on 34 shots as well as stopping all six Langley shooters to collect his first win of the season.
Eagles Leading Scorers:
Michael Abgrall (1-3-4)
Jake Bongo (2-1-3)
Cole Galata (2-1-3)
Buddy Johnson (1-2-3)
Grayden Slipec (1-2-3)
The Eagles have eight players returning from last year’s Pod season, which was played in Burnaby. Captain Jimmy Darby is joined by Luke Roberts as returnees on the backend while Holden Cardinal, Jacob Slipec, Buddy Johnson, Tio D’Addario and Michael Abgrall have returned up front with netminder Max Prazma returning in between the pipes.
With three points in his first three games in the BCHL, forward Jake Bongo has gotten off to a strong start. The Ridgefield, Connecticut native has tallied two goals and an assist for three points in his opening three games while scoring the opening goal on Sunday afternoon in the 4-3 shootout victory. The Sacred Heart University commit sits behind three-year BCHL veteran Michael Abgrall for the team lead in points.
The Vees and Eagles will play the one and only head-to-head matchup against one another on Thursday afternoon with a 1:00 PM face-off taking place at the Chilliwack Coliseum as part of the BCHL Showcase. The game will be broadcasted live on Bounce 800 Radio as well as BCHLTV.ca beginning with the pre-game show at 12:40 PM.
