Royals secure 2-1 win over the Chiefs
Victoria, BC. — The Victoria Royals took to the Barn on Blanshard tonight to host the Spokane Chiefs in the opening matchup of a back-to-back weekend clash. A defensive battle saw nearly 40 minutes of scoreless play, but a pair of power play goals made the difference to give the Royals the home win.
The first period saw the Royals hold the Chiefs shotless through over eight minutes of play, including through their two-minute man advantage around the five-minute mark of the period. Despite more than doubling the Chiefs’ shot count through the opening frame, the Royals could not convert on a 2-man advantage in the later minutes of the frame and the game remained scoreless headed into the first intermission.
After 18 minutes of play in the second period, the Royals got on the board first with a power play goal from Heath Nelson, assisted by Nolan Stewart and Caleb Matthews, to take the 1-0 lead after 40 minutes of play.
Reggie Newman struck on a power play deflection in the opening seconds of the third period, assisted by Roan Woodward and Timofei Runtso, to extend the Royals’ lead to two. The Chiefs got on the board with a goal from Sam Oremba at 8:11 of the third period to make it a one-goal game. After a frantic last minute of 6-on-5 play, the Royals held the Chiefs off for the remainder of the game to secure the 2-1 win at home.
Scoring Summary
1st Period
No Scoring
2nd Period
18:04 Victoria Royals Goal
Heath Nelson (13) assisted by Nolan Stewart and Caleb Matthews
3rd Period
0:21 Victoria Royals Goal
Reggie Newman (8) assisted by Roan Woodward and Timofei Runtso
8:11 Spokane Chiefs Goal
Sam Oremba (14) assisted by Coco Armstrong and Will McIsaac
Shots on Goal
Royals – 25
Chiefs – 28
Powerplay
Royals – 2/5
Chiefs – 0/3
Goalie Stats
Royals
Ethan Eskit – 27/28
Chiefs
Linus Viellard – 23/25
What’s Next
The Royals and Chiefs return to the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre tomorrow afternoon at 4:05 PM to close out their back-to-back series.
