White 5 – Black 2.
Monday night in Prince George in front of a excited crowd of just over 1000 fans, the Prince George Cougars Annual Black and White Game took centre stage. Chase Witala had two goals while Justin Almeida, Bartek Bison and Jordan Ross had singles and Team White earned a 5-2 victory over Team Black. Tyler Mrkonjic and Jesse Gabrielle responded for Team Black who outshot White in a losing cause.
After an evenly played opening 15 minutes, Justin Almeida got the scoring started when he followed up a Zach Goberis rebound and scooped it over Ty Edmonds and in to give White the 1-0 advantage. The shots were 9-9 after
The game’s next goal came at the 7:19 mark of the second period off the stick of Chase Witala. Colby McAuley and Jordan Ross assisted in Witala’s first of two on the night and White held a 2-0 lead.
Tyler Mrkonjic got Team Black on the board at the 12:54 mark of the second after he stripped a White defender in front of the opposing goal and stuffed a low shot through the goaltender and in.
White regained their two goal lead when Jordan Ross beat a defender wide, and snuck a backhand shot past Matthew Trulsen and in, and less than a minute later Bartek Bison deflected home a Josh Anderson point shot at the 17:13 mark, and White led Black 4-1, which is how the period ended.
Early in the third, Black nearly made it 4-2 off a point-blank chance in front of the White goal, but White forward Colby McAuley dove in desperation along his own goal line and got just enough of the shot to keep it out.
Jesse Gabrielle and Jansen Harkins combined on a goal at the 14:15 mark of the third to push Black within two (Harkins made a great pass along the left wing side t the wide open Gabrielle who finished the play off), but Chase Witala responded on a power play at 18:03 of the final frame to cement a 5-2 victory for Team White.
Team Black outshot Team White, but finished zero-for-five on the power play while White went one-for-one of their lone opportunity.
After the game, Prince George Cougars Scouting Director Bob Simmonds presented the Rob Charney Cup to Chase Witala.
The winning coaches were: Lyle Feser, Tom Hengen and Kirk McCuspey.
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The Rob Charney Cup is named after the late Rob Charney, a former Cougars scout who’s memory lives on through this annual intrasquad game. Rob truly loved scouting and provided several years of invaluable service to the Prince George Cougars. Many of his strong friendships were formed during his scouting career. He was very passionate, warm-hearted and is greatly missed to this day.
