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FridayJanuary 7th
VEES RALLY INTHIRD TO BEAT EAGLES 4-3
PENTICTON, BC ?The Penticton Vees are heading to Surrey looking for a sweep of a weekendhome-and-home season series, following a 4-3 win in Penticton on Friday night.
Down 3-2 with a period to play, the Vees saw a pair of thirdperiod goals rally the team to a two-point night in front of 1,505 thrilledfans.
The Vees opened the scoring with the lone first periodtally; Logan Johnston drilled Linden Saip in the Surrey zone, and spotted JoeyBenik at the right circle where he converted his 22nd of the season.
The hit was Johnston?s second of an eye-popping twelvecollisions on the night, and the goal was Benik?s first of a pair in the win.Benik leads all BCHL rookies in points and goals.
The Eagles would tie the game in the second frame on alovely pass from Tyler Morley. The 19-year-old forward spotted Riley Sweeneybreaking from the left point position as Vees penalty just expired. The gamewas tied at a goal apiece at the 12:59 mark of the second frame.
The Vees would grab their second lead of the night minutes later, when LoganJohnston won the puck with another heavy hit behind the Eagles net. The Pentictonproduct then centered for a wide open Joey LaLeggia in the slot. LaLeggia hadthe Eagles thinking he would shoot, but instead passed to Steve Iacobellis whoroofed his fourth of the season at the 15:42 mark.
The Eagles would then strike twice in the span of just 38seconds to steal the lead late in the period.
First at 17:52, Tyler Morley danced around a Vees defender,shot on net, and banged in the rebound as he was falling to the ice to completean incredible goal that tied the game. Then with just a minute and a half leftin the period, Jeff Vanderlugt jammed in a rebound from a Michael Stenerson tipon a Mitchell Jones point shot.
Down a goal with a period to play, the Vees tied the game ona great play from Mark MacMillan at the 6:12 mark. MacMillan blocked a Surreydump-in at centre and raced in on a two-on-one with Curtis Loik. MacMillan slidthe puck to Loik at the last moment, and the 17-year-old rookie converted hisfifth goal of the season.
The game winning goal came on the power play, as BrendanO?Donnell moved the puck from the left wall to Joey LaLeggia at the top of theright circle, who zipped a firm pass that Benik converted at the left post. Thetic-tac-toe goal brought the crowd to their feet, and gave the Vees a lead theywouldn?t relinquish.
Joel Rumpel earned his seventeenth win of the seasonstopping 25 of 28 shots. Karel St-Laurent allowed four goals on 38 shots in theloss for the Eagles.
The Vees had the lone specialteams goal on the night, finishing one of five power plays with a goal. TheEagles top-ranked power play was shutdown on three occasions, though they didscore moments after a man-advantage ended.
The Vees now sit in sole possession of top spot in theInterior Conference with 57 points, one point up on the Vernon Vipers ? whohave played one more game than the Vees have.
The Vees will hit the road and head to Greater VancouverSaturday for a second half of the weekend set with Surrey. The Eagles will hostthe Vees on the international ice surface of the South Surrey Arena at 7:00 PM;the pre-game show starts at 6:40 on EZ Rock AM 800 in Penticton, online atMyEZRock.com and BCHL.ca.
Next home action for the Vees comes up on the 14thof January when the Vees open another home-and-home set ? this time with theexplosive Langley Chiefs.
You can purchase game tickets at the S.O.E.C. box office, atValleyFirstTix.com, or at London Drugs in the Cherry Lane Shopping Centre.
