FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Tuesday, March 27th
LUCIA’S HAT-TRICK POWERS VEES
PENTICTON, BC- Mario Lucia recorded a hat-trick and the Vees scored four goals in the second period, en route to 5-0 whitewash of the Merritt Centennials on Tuesday night.
The Vees lead the best-of-seven Interior Conference Final 1-0.
Mario Lucia didn’t take long to get his first of three on the night, scoring on the power-play just 3:33 into the opening period. Lucia drove down the right-wing and made a quick move to the middle, before firing a shot underneath the arm of Leno Chimienti.
In the second, the Vees picked up where they left off in the first and then some; scoring four goals on sixteen shots in just under twelve minutes.
Lucia scored his second of the game, again on the power-play, when his centering feed banked in off a Merritt defender and past Chimienti at 5:46. The Vees added another when Joey Benik set-up Bryce Gervais on a nicely executed two-on-one rush. Benik, from the left-wing, feathered a pass across to Gervais on the glove side for a tap-in at 12:07. Lucia found his hat-trick goal one minute and forty-two seconds later; redirecting a pass from Wade Murphy over the arm of Chimienti whilst driving the goal. Loik capped off the second period barrage on an identical play on the fourth goal. Murphy, again, broke down the right-wing and threaded the needle to Loik at the far side, who tipped the puck over the blocker of Tyler Steel (came in relief after the Vees fourth goal) with just three minutes left in the period.
Penticton, up by five goals to start the third period, threw the blanket on the Cents, shutting down any attempt of them spoiling the clean-sheet. Chad Katunar made twenty saves for his second consecutive shutout and fifth win in the playoffs.
FINAL SCORE: 5-0 Vees
Shots: 34-20 Vees
Power-Plays: Vees 2/7 Cents 0/3
Attendance: 2, 261
Three Stars: 1.Mario Lucia 2. Wade Murphy 3. Chad Katunar
Hardest Working Vee: Chad Bannor
Valley First Charitable Donation Grand Total: $5, 070
The Vees look to grab a 2-0 series lead in Interior Conference Final in game two Wednesday, March 28th; puck drop is 7pm.
The pre-game show on EZ Rock AM 800 starts twenty minutes prior to puck drop; you can also tune in on MyEZRock.com, and at BCHL.ca where both the audio stream and Pay-Per-View video are available.
CONTACT: FRASER RODGERS
Director of Broadcasting, Media Relations
Penticton Vees Hockey Club
FraserRodgers@gmail.com(250) 809-1390
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