'Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad' as Leafs edge Sicamous 3-2 to complete successful road trip
By The Nelson Daily Sports
To use a tune by Meat Loaf in regards to the recent weekend for the Nelson Leafs, “Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad“.
A third-period goal by Aaron Dunlap proved to be the winner as the Leafs had just enough gas in the tank to edge the Sicamous Eagles 3-2 in Kootenay International Junior Hockey League action Sunday afternoon in Sicamous.
The win allowed the Buds to conclude a three-game road swing through KIJHL north with two wins.
As the team has done in many games this season, the Leafs were able to control most of the game, out shooting the Eagles 47-21 in the game.
The 15-6 advantage in the opening frame paid off in goals by Austin Lindsay and Patrick Croome to give the visitors a 2-0 lead at intermission.
Despite being out shot 12-6 in the second period, it was Riley Cardinal scoing the only goal of the period for Sicamous to cut Nelson’s lead to 2-1.
The intermission also saw the end of the line for starter Brett Soles, who was replaced by back up Adam Maida for the third period.
Maida allowed just one goal, a marker by Justin Wilde just over a minute after Dunlap scored to make it 3-1, in the period to give Nelson a chance to win.
Nelson improves to 9-3-2-1 on the season, good for top spot in the Murdoch Division and a tie for second overall in the KIJHL, three points behind league leading Osoyoos Coyotes.
Nelson concludes a five-game trip away from the NDCC Arena Friday in Grand Forks against the Bruins before returning home Saturday (October 25) to host the Golden Rockets at 7 p.m.
Leafs jump to early lead en route to 9-3 shellacking of Revelstoke
Once again the Nelson Leafs held a wide margin on the shot clock during a KIJHL game.
However, this time the Buds also enjoyed a rather large advantage in the goal scoring department.
Nelson scored four times in the opening frame to thump the Revelstoke Grizzlies 9-3 in KIJHL action Saturday night in Revelstoke.
The win improves the Leafs record to 8-3-2-1 and keeps Nelson in top spot in the Murdoch Division standings, three points in front of both Beaver Valley and Castlegar.
The Hawks lost 3-2 in overtime to Sicamous while Castlegar blasted Grand Forks 9-3.
Matt MacDonald, Braden Chow with a pair, and Rayce Miller scoring in the opening frame to give Nelson a 4-1 advantage.
Rookie Dylan Williamson, finishing the contest with three points, and Nolan Percival increased the lead to 6-1 after two frames before Darnel St. Pierre, Leaf captain Aaron Dunlap and Michael Crawford completed the scoring for Nelson.
Josh Pilon, Louie Federico and Tyler Chavez Leech replied for Revelstoke.
Brett Soles won his seventh game of the season as Nelson out shot the Grizzlies 54-29, including a huge 20-4 advantage in the second period.
Nelson concludes the three-game road trip Sunday in Sicamous against the Eagles.
In Castlegar, Bryan Lubin had four points to lead the Rebels to the one-sided win over Grand Forks. Carson Wornig had four points while Aaron Petten scored the hat trick to finish with three points.
In Sicamous, Ben Campbell scored the winner in OT to help the Eagles edge the defending KIJHL champion Nitehawks.
Leafs struggle on road as 100 Mile House dumps Green and White 7-3
Friday, Game one of a three-game trek into the KIJHL north did not go well for the Nelson Leafs.
100 Mile House Wranglers jumped out to a 4-0 lead en route to a 7-3 pasting of the Leafs in the Central BC City.
Micky Turner, Justin Schwing, Cole Zimmerman and Nick McCabe scored in the opening 40 minutes to give the Wranglers the insurmountable lead.
Nelson made a push in the third, cutting the margin to 5-3 in the third.
But Michael Lynch and Nick Headrick, into an empty net, sealed the deal for 100 Mile House.
Brady Ward completed the scoring for 100 Mile House while Aaron Dunlap, Aaron Brewer, and Darnel St. Pierre replied for the Leafs.
Nelson scored twice on the power play.
Leaf starting goalie Adam Maida was chased from the net after two periods in favor of Brett Soles.
Nelson, retaining a slim two-point lead over Beaver Valley in Murdoch Division standings, out shot 100 Mile House by a wide 35-19 margin, but ran into a red-hot Kristan Stead in the Wrangler nets.
Stead was selected game star for 100 Mile House while 16-year-old rookie Dylan Williamson was named the Leafs star.
The contest was the first for Williamson who was reassigned by to the Leafs by Prince Albert of the Western Hockey League.
