U18 Canadians Sweep Visiting Royals

The U18 AAA Greater Vancouver Canadians swept the Vancouver Island Royals over the weekend (Dec. 2-3) at the Richmond Olympic Oval, running their winning streak to three games. 

The Canadians (6-9-1-0) have won five of their past seven contests.  

On Saturday, Miller Bruckshaw’s short-handed goal late in the second period, and A.J. Abell scored two third-period goals, as the Canadians defeated the Royals 5-3. Graham Kilpatrick and Aidan Mukai scored in the first period, but the Royals tied the game 2-2 in the second. With the Canadians short-handed late in the second, Bruckshaw put GVC ahead for good with only 28.9 seconds left in the period, and Abell’s two goals in the third sealed the victory. GVC goaltender Jack Taylor finished with 27 saves. 

On Sunday, the Canadians jumped out to a 4-0 lead and went on to prevail 6-4 and complete the weekend sweep. Harjun Aujla, Yashas Jain, A.J. Abell, and Ryan Ashe scored to put GVC up 4-0, before the Royals tied the game up at 4-4 with 2:26 left in the second. James Lin, though, scored the tie-breaking goal at the 9:19 mark of the third, and Abell scored an empty-net goal with 2.3 seconds remaining for his fourth goal of the weekend to close out the scoring. 

Next up for the U18 Canadians, a Thursday night game against the U18 Fraser Valley Thunderbirds on Dec. 7 at the Richmond Olympic Oval. The game can be seen on playfullscreen.com.