Vlanich sparks Leafs past Summerland 7-4 to conclude Okanagan road trip undefeated
By Bruce Fuhr
The final game of the three-game in three-day road trip can sometimes be the toughest to find the necessary energy to get the job done.
Not for the Nelson Leafs.
The Murdoch Division leaders scored twice in a three-minute span during the first period en route to a 7-4 Kootenay International Junior Hockey League victory over the Summerland Steam Sunday in the South Okanagan City.
The win completed a three-game sweep of Okanagan opposition for Nelson and increases the lead of the division leaders to eight points over second-place Beaver Valley Nitehawks.
“We controlled today’s game from start to finish,” said Leaf coach Frank Maida following Sunday’s win.
“We stuck to our game plan considering we played three games on the road in three days.”
The Leafs, winners of six consecutive games, opened the road swing with identical 5-1 wins Friday in North Okanagan and Saturday in Kelowna.
Sunday Travis Wellman, with his league leading 23rd marker, opened the scoring before seven minutes into the contest.
Just over two minutes later, Brandon Sookro made it 2-0 before Rylan Sideroff stopped the bleeding for Summerland.
However, Jamie Vlanich scored on the power play before the period ended to reestablish Nelson’s two-goal advantage.
Vlanich and Tyler Garcia made it 5-1 and the rout was on.
Nolan Percival and Darnel St. Pierre also scored for Nelson while Kienan Scott, Jason DaCosta and Paulsen Lautard, with time running out in the game, replied for Summerland.
“This was a good weekend for the team, getting away together and spending time to really get to know each other,” Maida explained when asked about the first major road trip of the season.
Nelson, 13-0-1-1, has played eight of the first 15 games at home.
“I’m really happy for the boys,” Maida added. “They really played a solid team game each game of the road trip.”
The Leafs tired somewhat in the third, putting the game on the back of goalie newly acquired goalie Brad Rebagliati, who faced 13 shots in the frame to register his second win in a Green and White jersey.
Summerland finished the contest with a 34-28 advantage in shots.
Nelson, finishing October with an 8-0-1-1 record, opens November on the road in Spokane Friday against the Braves.
Nelson returns home to the NDCC Arena to host Osoyoos Coyotes Saturday at 7 p.m. The Coyotes are second in the Okanagan Division behind Kelowna with a 10-6 record.
OVERTIME: Leaf center Jamie Vlanich, finishing Sunday’s game with four points, registered an eight-point weekend to jump into the KIJHL point scoring lead, two points ahead of Kelowna’s Nick Joseph. The Trail native has 12 goals and 25 assists for 37 points. . . . Leaf sniper Travis Wellman, with his league leading 23 goals, is third four points behind Vlanich. . . . Alec Wilkerson, Travis Wellman, Darnel St. Pierre and Nolan Percival each has two points in Nelson’s win Sunday over Summerland. . . . Tyler Moffat registered his ninth win of the season Friday to tie for the KIJHL lead in wins with Connor DeMelo of Kelowna. Moffat is third in league save percentage.
