First-Place U17 Canadians Score 11 Goals vs. Cougars in Weekend Split

The first-place U17 AAA Greater Vancouver Canadians split a pair of games against the visiting Cariboo Cougars over the weekend (Feb. 3-4) at the Richmond Olympic Oval, winning 7-2 on Saturday and losing 5-4 on Sunday. 

In Saturday’s game, Trevor Chin, Luca Martyniuk, and Joshua Mytton each scored twice, and U15 call-up Gavin Dacpano also scored, as the Canadians won their fourth straight game—and ninth in their last 10. Dacpano added two assists for a three-point afternoon. The Canadians outshot the Cougars 42-15, including 25-3 in the second period alone. Alan Peregrym, January’s U17 goaltender of the month in the BCEHL, stopped 13 shots to improve to 12-1-0-2, making several outstanding saves in the first period while the game was still close. The victory was the 20th of the season for the Canadians through the first 29 contests. 

In Sunday’s contest, Trevor Chin and Luca Martyniuk scored again, and Kendric Liu also scored, as the Canadians and Cougars were tied 3-3 late in a high-scoring first period. But Cariboo got the go-ahead goal with 2:23 left in the first to take a 4-3 lead, and the game stayed that way until Aidan Mark tied things up with 11:09 left in regulation. With the game appearing to head to overtime, the Cougars stunned the Canadians with the game-winner with only 28.3 seconds remaining, and Cariboo took the game 5-4 despite being outshot 42-18. 

Despite Sunday’s loss, the first-place Canadians (20-6-2-2) still have a six-point cushion atop the U17 standings, with only six games remaining in the regular season. 

Next up, a home-and-home series against the second-place Fraser Valley Thunderbirds (16-8-3-3) on Feb. 10-11. Saturday’s game is at the Abbotsford Centre at 1:00 p.m., while Sunday’s contest (the final home game of the regular season) is at the Richmond Oval at 11:15 a.m. Both games can be seen on playfullscreen.com.