Royals Fall in Back Half of Double-Header
Victoria, BC. — The Victoria Royals returned to the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre tonight to host the Kelowna Rockets in the back half of their double-header. After the Royals took the win in last night’s game, Kelowna evened the season series by besting the Royals 6-3 in tonight’s clash.
Kelowna opened the scoring with a goal from Nate Corbet around the midway mark of the first period. The Royals had two power play opportunities in the opening frame, but they could not convert on either man advantage and the Rockets led 1-0 after 20 minutes of play.
The Rockets took a two-goal lead with a power play goal from Tij Iginla at 4:40 of the second period. Odin Vauhkonen responded with his second goal of the season at 8:40, assisted by Heath Nelson, to bring the Royals back within one. Kelowna extended their lead with a series of goals from Hiroki Gojsic, Tij Iginla and Daniel Pekar around the midway mark of the frame to bring the score to 5-1 going into the final minute of the second frame.
Landon Young notched his first goal of the season — a power play marker assisted by Miles Cooper and Nolan Stewart — at 19:14 of the second period. In the very final second of the frame, Nolan Stewart flipped it top shelf, assisted by Timofei Runtso, to bring the score to 5-3 Rockets headed into the second intermission.
Kelowna extended their lead to three with a power play goal from Kalder Varga around the midway mark of the third period. Despite killing a late-frame power play, the Royals could not make up their deficit and fell with a final score of 6-3.
Scoring Summary
1st Period
9:29 Kelowna Rockets Goal
Nate Corbet (1) assisted by Hiroki Gojsic
2nd Period
4:40 Kelowna Rockets Goal
Tij Iginla (8) assisted by Mazden Leslie and Hiroki Gojsic
8:20 Victoria Royals Goal
Odin Vauhkonen (2) assisted by Heath Nelson
10:28 Kelowna Rockets Goal
Hiroki Gojsic (3) assisted by Tomas Poletin and Rowan Guest
12:23 Kelowna Rockets Goal
Tij Iginla (9) assisted by Carson Wetsch
12:48 Kelowna Rockets Goal
Daniel Pekar (2) assisted by Nate Corbet and Kayden Longley
19:14 Victoria Royals Goal
Landon Young (1) assisted by Miles Cooper and Nolan Stewart
19:59 Victoria Royals Goal
Nolan Stewart (3) assisted by Timofei Runtso
3rd Period
10:52 Kelowna Rockets Goal
Kalder Varga (3) assisted by Hayden Paupanekis and Levi Benson
Shots on Goal
Royals – 30
Rockets – 29
Powerplay
Royals – 1/7
Rockets – 2/5
Goalie Stats
Royals
Jake Pilon – 23/29
Rockets
Harrison Boettiger – 27/30
What’s Next
The Royals will be hitting the road for a mid-week double header against the Prince George Cougars, with the first game slated for 2:00 PM on Tuesday, November 11th at the CN Centre.
