The Penticton Vees grabbed sole possession of first place in the Interior Division with a 4-2 win over the Merritt Centennials at the SOEC Wednesday.
The win moves the Vees two points clear of Merritt and West Kelowna who each are sitting on five wins and 10 points.
The Vees, who were shutout 5-0 in Merritt on September 27th, were looking to return the favour on home ice Wednesday. They got out to the start they wanted, as Dante Fabbro opened the scoring on the power-play nine-minutes into the first. Fabbro hammered the puck from the point and it found its way past Anthony Pupplo’s blocker. That was Fabbro’s second career BCHL goal and both have NOW come on the power-play and at the SOEC.
The Vees struck for two goals in just sixty seconds early in the second to pad their lead. Tyson Jost made it 2-0 on a nice solo rush into the Merritt end, finished off by a wrist-shot from the left-circle at 3:15. Patrick Newell followed that up with another goal from the left-circle, as he beat a screen Pupplo at 4:15 to make it 3-0.
The Vees had several chances to blow the game wide open in the second but couldn’t cash in, including Cam Amantea being stopped twice on two point-blank chances at the top of the Merritt crease.
Merritt clawed back early in the third period, as Rhett Wilcox got the visitors on the scoresheet six-minutes into the frame. Adam Tracey centered for Wilcox at the back-post to cut the Vees lead to 3-1 at 6:24.
The Cents’ then used their power-play to make it a one-goal game just two minutes later. Shane Poulsen’s point-shot was tipped in front by Diego Cuglietta to make it 3-2 at 8:46.
Hunter Miska made his best save in the dying moments of the third when the Cents’ had the extra skater out on the ice. Miska got his pad on Josh Teves’ rebound attempt at the side of the net.
That save turned out to be crucial, as moments later Riley Alferd took the puck away from a Centennial in the neutral zone and put the game on ice with an empty goal at 19:25.
Final Score: 4-2 Vees
Shots: 33-25 Vees
Power-Plays: Vees 1-5 Centennials 1-4
Three Stars: 1) Tyson Jost 2) Dante Fabbro 3) Rhett Wilcox
Attendance: 2,114
The Vees have now won three in a row and push their record to 6-1-0-0 on the season; they’re now 4-1-0 against the Interior Division. The Vees record at the SOEC improves to 2-0-0 and combined with the Bauer Showcase, their home record is a perfect 3-0-0. The Vees snapped the Cents’ four-game win streak with the win and handed the Cents’ their first loss against a divisional opponent.
The Vees two-game home stand wraps up on Friday when they host the West Kelowna Warriors at the SOEC; face-off is slated for 7 p.m. The Warriors are tied with Merritt for second place in the Interior Division with a 5-2-0-0 record. This is the first of seven meetings between the Vees and Warriors. Fans can save themselves a dollar by picking up their tickets at the Valley First box office (at the SOEC) between 10 a.m. – 5p.m on Thursday.
