PHOTO: Cherie Morgan/Cherie Morgan Photography
PENTICTON, BC. – The Penticton Vees hosted their annual intrasquad game on Friday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre as Quinn Hutson scored twice to help Team White to a 4-0 victory.
Although the two teams know each other well, seeing each other in practice every day, the pace was timid early before Team White began to apply pressure, earning the game’s first goal coming at the 11:42 mark on a nifty drive wide of the net by Ryan Upson.
Upson made a power move down the right wing as he protected the puck on his backhand and sent a pass to the blocker side where Quinn Hutson slapped the puck past Team Blue netminder Jackson Garnett for the 1-0 lead in the opening period of play.
Team White garnered the game’s first power play shortly after that before extending their lead to a pair of goals on a steal from Luc Wilson that he deposited into the back of the net. Wilson intercepted a breakout pass and settled the puck in the slot before beating Garnett on the blocker side at the 16:23 mark to extend the Team White lead to 2-0.
The shots favoured Team White by a 10-5 margin in the opening period as returning goaltender Yaniv Perets was solid when called upon in his five opening period saves.
Kaeden Lane took over the Team Blue net in the 2nd period and it seemed to add a spark to the “visiting” team as they started the period with a charge. Perets continued to stay strong, finishing the middle stanza with 10 saves before his team applied more pressure as the period wore on and gained a 3-0 lead late in the frame.
A nice passing play developed from the stick of Jacob Quillan as he spotted Stefano Bottini off the rush in the offensive end. Bottini took the pass in the slot and dished to the right wing as Hutson buried his second of the game, over the glove shoulder of Lane to give Team White a 3-0 lead with under a minute remaining in the 2nd period.
Team White capped off the scoring on the night just under five minutes into the 3rd period as Ethan O’Rourke finished a nice play started by Upson. The forward drove wide on the right side before stopping in the corner and centered for O’Rourke who beat Lane through the legs to give Team White a 4-0 advantage.
Yaniv Perets and Jackson Garnett split the shutout, combining for 22 saves in the victory as Team White took home the Peaches Cup crown.
FINAL SCORE: 4-0 Team White
SHOTS ON GOAL: 36-22 Team White
TEAM WHITE PP: 0/1
TEAM BLUE PP: 0/1
