#33 Alex Olson smothers a puck directed his way by Cougars #26 Kameron Fink. While Fink looks to score on a rebound Panthers #5 Braeden Hansen cruises in to supply a bit of assistance to his Goaltender. Olson and the Panthers edged the Victoria Cougars 2-1 Friday evening in VIJHL action at the Panorama Recreation Centre (Photo by Gordon Lee)
It took 60 minutes of battle but the Peninsula Panthers clawed their way to a victory in a VIJHL cat fight Friday night at the Panorama Recreation Centre.
Panthers Cameron Thompson scored an unassisted goal at the 15:54 mark of the 1st frame and Trevor Owens with helpers from Spencer Loverock and Kai Turner tallied a little under three minutes later to give the Peninsula Panthers a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes were in the books. And that would be all they would need to nail down an exciting 2-1 win in VIJHL action Friday night in the friendly confines of the Panorama Recreation Centre. Cougars Dom Kolbeins scored on the power play midway through the final stanza for the visitors to get them to within a goal but it was simply not enough offence as the Panthers scratched out the victory. The Cats from Esquimalt yanked goaltender Anthony Ciurro with just over a minute left in the contest and although they had a couple brilliant scoring opportunities they could not solve Panthers starting goaltender Alex Olson.
A solid crowd was on hand to view the affair and each and every one of them recieved their money's worth. And when the final buzzer sounded the Panthers group spilled off the bench to congratulate Olson and then to salute the boisterous crowd in attendance. "How enjoyable was that?" asked Head Coach Rob Mortin. "I could not tell you how many people were in the stands, my focus was entirely on the game but we could hear them, no doubt about that."
Olson blocked 24 of 25 shots that were directed his way while his counterpart between the pipes for the Cougars was good on 14 of 16 attempts that came his way. And for his efforts Olson was named the game's 1st star while Ciurro was named the 3rd star while being collared with the loss. Owens who was feeling somewhat under the weather and was coming back into the lineup after missing a couple weeks with a deep cut on his leg was credited with the 2nd star after notching the winner early in the game.
The Panthers have little time to rest on their laurels as they head to Kerry Park to face the Islanders on Saturday night at 7:30 pm. They will then travel to Saanich to take on the Braves next Wednesday before returning home next Friday to await the arrival of the North Division leading Campbell River Storm. The puck is set to drop on Friday at 7:30 pm.
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