FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
SaturdayJanuary 8th
VEES SWEEP THEEAGLES WITH 5-1 WIN
SURREY, BC ? ThePenticton Vees remain in top spot in the Interior Conference after thorough 5-1win, and a weekend sweep of the Surrey Eagles.
Down a goal at the midpoint of the game, the Vees killed offa five minute major to captain Derik Johnson ? out-chancing the Eagles on thepenalty kill – and it seemed to spur them to five unanswered goals and anothertight defensive performance.
Michael Stenerson opened the scoring at the 1:37 mark of thesecond period as he banged in a rebound on the Eagles power play.
The Vees would equalize the game after an inspiredfive-minute penalty kill that saw the club out hustling the Eaglesman-advantage. Combine the erasing of the major penalty to Vees captain DerikJohnson and the earlier 48 seconds five-on-three opportunity killed off by theteam, and the Vees penalty killers spurred the offense.
The visitors would tie the game at the 13:57 mark of thesecond period on a 5-on-3 when Myles McCauley converted a pass from JoeyLaLeggia. Also drawing an assist on the play was Mark MacMillan.
Troy Stecher would score on his first of two on the nightwhen he converted a nice set-up from Garrett Milan, and Mike Betz ? making thescore 2-1 just 50 second after the Vees tied the game.
At 17:17 Brendan O?Donnell would score the Vees third manadvantage goal in a span of 3:20. The Vees led the game 3-1 after 40 minutes.
In the third the Vees got two more goals as Troy Stecher andJoey LaLeggia added to the Vees lead. LaLeggia finished with a goal and twoassists. Stecher potted his fourth and fifth goals of the season. Playing infront of friends and family, the Vees got big performances from their lowermainland talent with also includes Steve Iacobellis, Garrett Milan, CurtisLoik, and Kyle Beaulieu.
Joel Rumpel earned the win allowing just one goal on 28shots, while Karel St-Laurent allowed five on 27 shots in the loss.
The Vees would finish 3/7 on the power play, while Surreyfinished 1/7.
The Vees now lead the Interior Conference by a single pointwith a game in hand on second place Vernon.
Next home action for the Vees comes up on the 14thof January when the Vees open a home-and-home set with Langley Chiefs. 7:00PM;the pre-game show starts at 6:40 on EZ Rock AM 800 in Penticton, online atMyEZRock.com and BCHL.ca.
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.
