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Pacific teams rule the day Sunday at national championships

BY JASON LAROSE

The Brooks Bandits continued to roll Sunday at the 2019 National Junior A Championship, coming from behind to down the Portage Terriers and stay perfect, while the Prince George Spruce Kings pulled away in the final 40 minutes for a win over the Oakville Blades in their tournament opener.

PRINCE GEORGE SPRUCE KINGS 5, OAKVILLE BLADES 1
Chong Min Lee, Patrick Cozzi and Ben Poisson scored goals in the decisive second period, and the Spruce Kings scored five times unanswered to earn a win over the Blades on Sunday afternoon. Prince George dominated the middle frame, outshooting Oakville 20-3 and turning a one-goal deficit into a two-goal lead.

“To watch Oakville play yesterday and see them on video, it is an advantage for sure. Oakville was probably tired with a tight turnaround, but I didn’t think we were that sharp to start so maybe [being the last team to start] is a bit of a disadvantage. I’m not too sure if our guys were nervous or we were rusty, but we need to be better off the start. I liked how we were resilient because we could have packed it in after the first period. It was one of our worst periods in a long time, but we found energy as the game went on.”
— Adam Maglio, Prince George head coach, on bouncing back from a slow start

BROOKS BANDITS 5, PORTAGE TERRIERS 3
Simon Gravel scored twice in the third period, including the game-winning goal in the opening minute, to help the Bandits come from behind to down the Terriers on Sunday night. Brooks used an 83-second stretch late in the second period and early in the third to turn a two-goal deficit into a one-goal lead.

“I don’t think we played well and guys were frustrated with how our puck movement was. To get the two goals [at the end of the second period] were big and I think guys felt good about how the game would end up, because it wasn’t going well. Portage played well and had lots of pressure on us, but I think through the neutral zone we didn’t execute well on our passes. We didn’t do a great job in their zone to get people to the net and our power play struggled. It wasn’t a perfect night for us, but at this time of year a win is a win.”
— Ryan Papaioannou, Brooks head coach, on doing what it takes to win

STANDINGS
Brooks Bandits  2-0-0-0 | 12GF 6GA | 6 points
Prince George Spruce Kings  1-0-0-0 | 5GF 1GA | 3 points
Ottawa Jr. Senators  1-0-0-0 | 3GF 0GA | 3 points
Portage Terriers  0-0-0-2 | 3GF 8GA | 0 points
Oakville Blades  0-0-0-2 | 4GF 12GA | 0 points

LEADING SCORERS
Luke Bast (Brooks)  2G 2A 4P
Simon Gravel (Brooks)  2G 2A 4P
William Lemay (Brooks)  2G 1A 3P
Ryan Mahshie (Brooks)  1G 2A 3P
Mack Hancock (Brooks)  2G 0A 2P
Thomas Maia (Oakville)  2G 0A 2P

LEADING GOALTENDERS
Francis Boisvert (Ottawa)  1-0 / 0.00 GAA / 1.000 SV%
Logan Neaton (Prince George)  1-0 / 1.00 GAA / .952 SV%
Pierce Charleson (Brooks)  2-0 / 3.00 GAA / .833 SV%
Nathan Moore (Portage)  0-1 / 3.00 GAA / .893 SV%
Ethan Peterson (Portage)  0-1 / 4.07 GAA / .911 SV%

STAR OF THE DAY
Simon Gravel – Brooks Bandits

NEXT GAMES
Prince George Spruce Kings vs. Ottawa Jr. Senators (7 p.m. MT) – STATISTICS & WEBCAST

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