Royals fall in nail-biter against Cougars
Victoria, BC. — The Victoria Royals hit the ice at the Save-on-Food Memorial Centre tonight to host the Prince George Cougars in the opening matchup of a two-game series. After a tightly contested, high-shooting affair, the Royals fell to the Cougars 3-2 in the shootout.
Reggie Newman opened the scoring with his sixth goal of the season, assisted by Seth Fryer, just before the three-minute mark of the first period. A mid-frame power play saw the Royals mark 5 shots on 8 attempts in the two-minute man advantage. The Royals took a two-goal lead with a goal from Ashton Brown, assisted by Miles Cooper, in the final minutes of the opening frame, to bring the score to 2-0 headed into the first intermission.
Prince George got on the board with a goal from Brock Souch at 8:29 of the second period, but the Royals maintained the 2-1 lead after 40 minutes.
The Cougars tied the game with a goal from Patrick Sopiarz at 3:38 of the third period, and the game remained knotted up at the end of regulation, sending the game into overtime.
No scoring in the overtime sent the game into a shootout, and the Cougars took the game after two rounds of shootout.
Scoring Summary
1st Period
2:51 Victoria Royals Goal
Reggie Newman (6) assisted by Seth Fryer
18:29 Victoria Royals Goal
Ashton Brown (6) assisted by Miles Cooper
2nd Period
8:29 Prince George Cougars Goal
Brock Souch (8) assisted by Arsenii Anisimov
3rd Period
3:38 Prince George Cougars
Patrick Sopiarz (2) unassisted
Overtime
No Scoring
Shootout
Terik Parascak (PG) – GOAL
Roan Woodward (VIC) – MISS
Jett Lajoie (PG) – GOAL
Ludovic Perreault (VIC) – MISS
Shots on Goal
Royals – 33
Cougars – 31
Powerplay
Royals – 0/4
Cougars – 0/3
Goalie Stats
Royals
Ethan Eskit – 29/31
Cougars
Joshua Ravensbergen – 31/33
What’s Next
The Royals and Cougars will face off again this Sunday afternoon with puck drop set for 2:05 PM at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
