Royals Fall Short in First Visit to Wenatchee
Wenatchee, WA – It was a Saturday night special at Town Toyota Center as the Victoria Royals (8-7-0-1) squared off with the Wenatchee Wild (10-6-0-1). Both teams were looking to complete perfect weekends as they each grabbed victories on Friday evening.
16-year-old netminder Jayden Kraus got the start for the Royals while Daniel Hauser made his 15th appearance of the season for Wenatchee.
It was a quiet opening fifteen minutes of play as there was just a single penalty entered into the scorers sheet. That would change late in the period as the Wild would strike twice in the final five minutes with goals from Kenta Isogai and Steven Arp. They would carry that two goal cushion into the middle frame.
Victoria would showcase their resilience to kick off the second period as they went to work quickly on the man-advantage. Austin Zemlak and Nate Misskey showed off their chemistry from the blueline as they connected for a powerplay marker just before the five minute mark to cut the Wild lead in half. Wenatchee would bounce back in quick order as they restored their two goal lead near the midway point of the period as Rodzers Burkarts was able to beat Jayden Kraus.
The back and forth period would continue as the Royals grabbed their second of the period with Reggie Newman finishing off a backdoor passing play with Tanner Scott to pull Victoria within one.
Wenatchee would finish off the second stanza in the same fashion that they finished the first as they added two late goals with Burkarts notching his second of the period before Briley Wood tallied his fifth of the season to extend the Wild lead to three.
The Wild would hang on to that three goal cushion until midway through the period as Tanner Scott continued his strong play as he buried his seventh of the season to pull Victoria within two. Wenatchee responded quickly following the Scott goal as Conor Geekie notched a powerplay marker to restore their three goal lead.
That would be the final entry into the scoresheet on Saturday night as Wenatchee doubled up the Royals with a 6-3 final.
Scoring Summary
1st Period
15:45 – Wenatchee Wild Goal
Kenta Isogai (9) assisted by Conor Geekie and Graham Sward
19:29 – Wenatchee Wild Goal
Steven Arp (4) assisted by Hayden Moore and Ty Fraser
2nd Period
4:25 – Victoria Royals Goal (PP)
Austin Zemlak (4) assisted by Nate Misskey
9:22 – Wenatchee Wild Goal
Rodzers Burkarts (5) assisted by Luka Shcherbyna and Ashton Brown
12:25 – Victoria Royals Goal
Reggie Newman (5) assisted by Tanner Scott and Robin Sapouŝek
18:24 – Wenatchee Wild Goal
Rodzers Burkarts (6) assisted by Luka Shcherbyna and Miles Cooper
19:28 – Wenatchee Wild Goal
Briley Wood (7) assisted by Kenta Isogai and Miles Cooper
3rd Period
9:28 – Victoria Royals Goal
Tanner Scott (7) assisted by Robin Sapouŝek
14:23 – Wenatchee Wild Goal (PP)
Conor Geekie (8) assisted by Kenta Isogai and Graham Sward
Shots On Goal
Royals – 36
Wild – 32
Powerplay
Royals – 1/4
Wild – 1/3
Goalie Stats
Royals
Jayden Kraus – 26/32
Wild
Daniel Hauser – 33/36
What’s Next
The Royals will make their way back into Victoria as they gear up for a pair of weekday games back at the SOFMC. They will kick off the week on Tuesday evening as the Red Deer Rebels make their way into the provincial capital for the first time in the post-covid era.
