The Penticton Vees (9-0-0-0) head to the Shuswap in search for their 10th straight victory in the Okanagan Cup as they face-off against the Salmon Arm Silverbacks (1-5-1-0) on Saturday night at the Shaw Centre.
PENTICTON VEES OKANAGAN CUP SCHEDULE:
Friday, September 25th vs. Salmon Arm Silverbacks (7-0 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, September 26th vs. Salmon Arm Silverbacks (8-2 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Friday, October 2nd vs. West Kelowna Warriors (3-2 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, October 3rd @ West Kelowna Warriors (3-2 Vees/SO) (BOXSCORE)
Wednesday, October 7th vs. Vernon Vipers (4-0 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, October 10th @ Vernon Vipers (BOXSCORE)
Friday, October 16th @ West Kelowna Warriors (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, October 17th vs. West Kelowna Warriors (BOXSCORE)
Friday, October 23rd vs. Salmon Arm Silverbacks (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, October 24th @ Salmon Arm Silverbacks (6:00 PM)
Friday, November 6th @ Vernon Vipers (6:00 PM)
Saturday, November 7th vs. Vernon Vipers (6:00 PM)
The Vees and Silverbacks play the final game of their Okanagan Cup schedule on Saturday in Salmon Arm with Penticton earning a 3-2 victory over the ‘Backs on Friday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre. Fin Williams and Jacob Quillan each tallied in the game before Jackson Niedermayer scored late in the 3rd period to earn the winning marker. Yaniv Perets turned aside 17 of the 19 shots he faced in his 6th victory of the Okanagan Cup tournament.
Vees Okanagan Cup Leading Scorers:
Matteo Costantini (4-11-15)
Liam Malmquist (0-13-13)
Quinn Hutson (6-4-10)
Jackson Niedermayer (6-3-9)
Luc Wilson (3-6-9)
Points in three straight games as forward Jacob Quillan on a strong stretch of play over his last handful of games. The Dartmouth, Nova Scotia native has compiled two goals and two assists for four points over the last three games and currently sits tied for 9th in team scoring with 2 goals and 4 assists for 6 points. The Quinnipiac University commit registered 17 goals and 20 assists for 37 points in 28 games played with Salisbury School in the United States Prep School league last season.
The 131st overall selection in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft by the Buffalo Sabres kept his good stretch of scoring going with an assist in Friday night’s victory over the ‘Backs. Matteo Costantini has been a consistent source of offence for the Vees, accumulating points in each of his last three games, scoring a goal and adding five assists for six points in that span. The University of North Dakota commit has accumulated a point in each of the tournament games except one thus far, including a pair of three assist games.
A return to the lineup was a good one for Luc Wilson, who factored into the scoring with a pair of assists in the victory on Friday night. The Duncan, BC native now sits 5th in team scoring for the tournament with three goals and six assists for nine points over the course of seven games played. The commit of the University of Minnesota State Mankato comes into his first season with the Vees with a big track record of providing offence, scoring 29 goals and adding 47 assists for 76 points in 110 career BC Hockey League games, all taking place with the Cowichan Valley Capitals.
The Salmon Arm Silverbacks will look to try and find their second win of the tournament after falling in a hard-fought 3-2 defeat to the Vees on Friday night at the SOEC. Mat Bourgnault and Drew Bennett each found the back of the net for the ‘Backs while Riley Kohonick turned aside 23 of the 26 shots he faced in his 5th Okanagan Cup loss.
Silverbacks Okanagan Cup Leading Scorers:
Carter Loney (1-5-6)
Danny Ciccarello (4-1-5)
Drew Bennett (3-1-4)
Joaquim Lemay (0-4-4)
Simon Tassy (3-0-3)
Riding a three-game point streak into Saturday night, forward Carter Loney has been pacing the ‘Backs in scoring over the last handful of games and now leads the team in tournament scoring with a goal and five assists for six points. The University of Minnesota-Duluth commit has collected a goal and four assists in his last three games after a burst of offence in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League last season where the Winnipeg, Manitoba native scored 16 goals and added 34 assists for 50 points in 52 games played with the Steinbach Pistons, finishing as the MJHL’s Rookie of the Year.
Scoring in Friday night’s contest pushed Drew Bennett to a tie for second in team goal scoring in the tournament and has the second-year forward set with points in four of his last five games. The Mount Pearl, Newfoundland native has scored three goals and added an assist in his last four games while scoring 10 markers and adding 18 helpers for 28 points in 56 games played last season in Salmon Arm.
The Vees and Silverbacks conclude their Okanagan Cup schedule against one another on Saturday night from the Shaw Centre. Puck drop is slated for 6:30 PM with the game will be aired live with a FREE audio stream on mixlr.com/pentictonvees as well as on pay-per-view at HockeyTV.com.
