From 133 teams to two, the championship game is set at the 2019 National
Junior A Championship. The Brooks Bandits and Prince George Spruce Kings
posted semifinal successes Saturday and will meet for the top prize.
BROOKS BANDITS 4, OTTAWA JR. SENATORS 3
Simon Boyko opened the scoring in the first period and set up the
game-winning goal in the third, and the Bandits survived a wild third
period to edge the Jr. Senators on Saturday afternoon. Brooks is the
fifth-consecutive host team to reach the final, and will try to be the
fourth from that group to win it all.
“I think we had a good start, getting the first goal, and then having home
crowd behind us to power us through the last little bit was the difference.
I think we faced some adversity with Prince George [in the Doyle Cup] and
we’ve all had pretty much one-goal games here at the tournament. This game
was the opposite, we had a team come back on us and that’s probably good
for our guys.”
-- Ryan Papaioannou, Brooks head coach, on keys to winning its
semifinal
PRINCE GEORGE SPRUCE KINGS 2, OAKVILLE BLADES 1
Nick Poisson and Ben Brar scored 1:45 apart in the second period, Logan
Neaton made 32 saves and the Spruce Kings held off the Blades on Saturday
night. Dylan Anhorn chipped in with a pair of assists for Prince George,
which was outshot 18-6 in the third period and survived a five-minute
penalty kill.
“Ben has really brought his game here, he’s been outstanding. You
can see it in his eyes, his pre-game, shift in and shift out he’s been
phenomenal. That whole line (with Dustin Manz and Patrick Cozzi) has been
very good and they inspire their teammates and that’s what you need in
tournaments like this.”
-- Adam Maglio, Prince George head coach, on the outstanding play of
Brar
LEADING SCORERS
Dylan Anhorn (Prince George) 1G 6A 7P
Ben Brar (Prince George) 3G 3A 6P
Ryan Mahshie (Brooks) 2G 4A 6P
Spencer Kersten (Oakville) 1G 5A 6P
Dustin Manz (Prince George) 1G 5A 6P
LEADING GOALTENDERS
Logan Neaton (Prince George) 4-1 / 0.93 GAA / .960 SV%
Pierce Charleson (Brooks) 5-0 / 2.20 GAA / .882 SV%
Francis Boisvert (Ottawa) 1-4 / 2.68 GAA / .916 SV%
Chris Elliot (Oakville) 1-0 / 3.43 GAA / .879 SV%
Nathan Moore (Portage) 0-3 / 3.51 GAA / .894 SV%
STAR OF THE DAY
Simon Boyko – Brooks Bandits
NEXT GAME
Prince George Spruce Kings vs. Brooks Bandits (3 p.m. MT) –
STATISTICS & WEBCAST