Saturday, April 21, 2012 - Submitted by BCHL Media
With a power play goal and a shorthanded goal in the first 20 minutes, the Penticton Vees grabbed a lead they would not relinquish and claimed an emphatic 7-2 road victory over the Brooks Bandits in Game 1 of the Doyle Cup.
Vees captain Logan Johnston hammered home a rebound on the man advantage to make it 1-0 at 7:27 of the first. Just over six minute later with Steven Fogarty serving a high-sticking penalty, Mario Lucia snapped home a shot high to Jan Obernesser's glove side to put the Vees up two.
Johnston tallied early in the second with what proved to be the winning goal as he put away another puck loose in the Bandits crease. Brooks rallied with their only two goals of the game in the second as Colton Semenok and Chris Muscoby, on the power play, got the Bandits within a goal. But less than a minute later, Wade Murphy restored the Vees' two-goal edge.
Brooks' slim hopes for a Game 1 comeback were dashed early in the final frame as Joey Benik scored 43 seconds in and Bryce Gervais followed at 5:29 with a marker that chased Obernesser. Troy Stecher rounded out the Vees scoring with a power-play tally.
Chad Katunar made 24 saves for the win. Obernesser made 13 saves while backup Michael Fredrick stopped five pucks in 14:31 of work.
Game 2 goes Saturday at 6 p.m. Pacific. A Vees win will bring the series back to Penticton for Game 3 Tuesday, April 24 while a Bandits victory will keep the series in Brooks for a Game 3 Sunday.
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