U17 Canadians Swept by First-Place Rockets

The U17 AAA Greater Vancouver Canadians saw their two-game winning streak end in Kelowna over the weekend, as they fell 3-1 and 6-1 to the first-place Okanagan Rockets.

Both games were held at Kelowna’s MNP Place.

Saturday’s game was a close affair, with the Canadians down just 1-0 heading into the third period. After the Rockets scored again five minutes into the final period, Nicholas Harris notched his third goal of the season to cut the deficit in half. Unfortunately, the Rockets got an insurance goal with only 1:30 remaining to close out the 3-1 contest. D’Angelo Brual made the start in goal for GVC—his ninth start of the season—and played well, stopping 28 shots.

On Sunday, it was another close game through two periods, with Henry Goldman getting the only goal for GVC, his fifth of the season. The Canadians trailed 2-1 until the Rockets scored four more in the third, three in the final six minutes, to pull away in the 6-1 contest. Joshua Reed made 31 saves in the loss while making his seventh start of the season. 

Through 16 games, the Canadians are 3-11-2, in eighth place in the U17 standings. 

Next up, the U17 Canadians will take on the Valley West Giants (11-4-1-1) in a home-and-home series on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1. The Saturday game will be at the Richmond Oval at 2:30 p.m., and then the Sunday finale will be at the Planet Ice Delta at 8:15 p.m. Both games can be seen on playfullscreen.com.