FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
ThursdaySeptember 30th
VEES SHUTOUTCENTENNIALS AT THE SOEC
PENTICTON, BC ?The Penticton Vees will look for their fourth home win on Friday following a3-0 shutout of the Merritt Centennials on Thursday Night.
19-year-old rookie Billy Faust earned his first BCHLshutout, stopping all 28 shots he faced in the game. The Californian puckstopper was tested often in the early going – coming up with numerous big savesin the while the Vees looked a touch sluggish. For his efforts Faust was namedthe ?First Star? of the game; he has three wins in his three starts thisseason.
Stefan Nicholishen scored his first goal and turned in hisbest effort of the season on Thursday. The big 17-year-old power forward fireda rocket under the bar in the second period to open the scoring for the Vees atthe 13:39 mark. Jake Charles started the play with a hit on a Merritt defenderto free up the puck on the end wall. Steve Iacobellis then centered forNicholishen who made no mistake from the slot.
At the 17:07 mark of the middle frame Brad Robbins tipped ina Joey LaLeggia point blast to stretch the Vees lead to two. Robbins now has ateam leading four goals on the season. Mark Hall also drew his first of twoassists on the goal.
With the Cents pressing for an equalizer late in the gamethe newly minted Alternate Captain ? Hall ? then freed up Milan for an emptynet goal with just 1:07 remaining in the game. Milan took a heavy hit on theplay, but recorded his fourth goal of the season to tie for the team lead withRobbins.
The Vees penalty kill remains operating at high efficiency.The Vees erased all three Merritt advantages in the game, and have killed off35 of 39 penalties taken this season.
Also of note, the Vees power play was held off the boardwith just a single opportunity granted and attendance was 905 at the SOEC onThursday night.
Merritt net-minder Tyler Steel faced 33 shots in the loss,he made 31 saves, and the Vees also scored on an empty net.
The Vees (6-4-0-0) now have twelve points in ten games andsit in a tie with Salmon Arm for second spot in the Interior. The Silverbackshave played three fewer games than the Vees.
Up next for the Vees are the Cowichan Valley Capitals, whovisit the S.O.E.C. in their lone trip to Penticton on Friday night.
Puck drop for home games is 7:00PM at the S.O.E.C., and VeesGame Tickets can be purchased at the box office during business hours, oronline at ValleyFirstTix.com
The pre-game show on EZ Rock AM 800 starts twenty minutesprior to puck drop for both Thursday and Friday?s games at 6:40. You can alsotune in on MyEZRock.com, and at BCHL.ca where both the audio stream andPay-Per-View video are available.
