U18 Canadians Pick Up 1st Victory in Split vs. Rockets

The U18 AAA Greater Vancouver Canadians picked up their first victory of the season in a weekend split with the Okanagan Rockets at the Richmond Olympic Oval this past weekend (Oct. 14-15).

On Saturday, the Canadians overcame a 1-0 deficit with four unanswered goals in the third period for a 4-1 victory, their first win after opening the season with four consecutive defeats. James Lin began the comeback with his first goal of the season 5:35 into the final period before A.J. Abell notched his first of the year with a short-handed breakaway goal with 9:37 remaining. Harjun Aujla followed with his first of the campaign with 8:23 left, and Yashas Jain also scored his first of the season into an empty net with 2:28 remaining. Marcus Taylor was outstanding in goal with 31 saves for the victory. 

On Sunday, the Canadians scored first and were in a 2-2 tie with the Rockets through the opening 20 minutes, before Okanagan struck for four goals in the second en route to a 9-4 victory. Lucas Epp opened the scoring 5:03 into the game with his second goal of the season, while Graham Kilpatrick notched his first two of the season. Maxfeld Shin added a breakaway goal in the second period, his first goal of the year, but the Canadians were unable to complete the weekend sweep.

Next up for the U18 Canadians (1-5-0-0), a home-and-home series against the U18 Vancouver North West Hawks (2-4-0-0). The two teams will play at the Holllyburn Country Club in West Vancouver on Saturday (Oct. 21) at 6:15 p.m., and the rematch takes place at the Richmond Olympic Oval on Sunday at 11:15 a.m. Both games can be seen on playfullscreen.com.