Penticton Vees hold strong against Alberni Valley Bulldogs with second win to continue series lead

Photo: Cherie Morgan/Cherie Morgan Photography

The Penticton Vees lead the Fred Page Cup Final series 2-0 after their 4-3 win over the Alberni Valley Bulldogs on Saturday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre.

It was a scoreless first period, in which the Vees outshot the Bulldogs 15-2. The second period was heavy for scoring, with the two teams combining for five goals

Brett Moravec put Penticton ahead 1-0 three minutes into the second period. Alberni Valley came back hard with back-to-back goals to grab their first lead of the series.

Penticton responded by scoring two goals in 25 seconds to go up 3-2. Joshua Niedermayer brought the Vees back to a tie with the Bulldogs with his shot from the top of the slot.

Then Josh Nadeau gave the Vees the lead back when his younger brother Bradly made a great play to maneuver around the defender and passed it across to Josh for the tap-in.

Early in the third period, the Bulldogs were close to tying the game, but Matt Kursonis had his goal waved off after a hand pass was called.

Spencer Smith got the Vees up by another eight and a half minutes into the final frame. Smith got the puck underneath the Bulldogs’ goaltender from inside the crease, making it 4-2.

But the Bulldogs had one more goal in them, with Nicholas Beneteau scoring on the power play at 11:17 to shave the Vees' lead to 4-3.

The Bulldogs pulled their goalie with just over a minute left to try to tie it up, but the Vees held them at bay for the second-straight night.

The Vees will face off against the Bulldogs again on May 16 in Alberni Valley. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.