Panthers dumped by Cougars, face must-win on Monday evening

The Peninsula Panthers scored a goal in each of the three periods against the Victoria Cougars on Sunday afternoon in Game 3 of the best-of-7 series but it was simply was not enough.  The Cougars played perhaps their best game of the series and were full value for the 9-3 win.

Scoring for the Panthers were Justin Post and Cam Thompson with a pair.  Thompson and Post also added an assist in the game while Michael Sproule and affiliated player Tyler Pang were awarded a helper in the affair.

With the loss the Panthers see themselves go down 3-0 and are now in a postition where they must win on Monday evening when the two clubs hit the ice at 7:30 pm.  "This team has a ton of heart and we will be playing until the final buzzer sounds," said Pete Zubersky.  "We are going to go out on Monday night and we will be looking for a win.  We have competed hard in this series and really could have won either of the first two games.  We are all looking forward to Monday night back in our barn."

In the only other series that was still alive on Sunday, the Campbell River Storm waltzed into Nanaimo with a 3-0 lead in the best-of-7 series against the Buccaneers.  And the Storm continued their dominance in the series as they knocked off the Bucs with a 7-1 win and swept the series in four straight games and in convincing fashion.  The Storm will now sit and await the outcome of the Panthers and Cougars series and will then face the winner in the VIJHL Championship best-of-7.