#4, 19-year-old Captain Trevor Owens stellar in 4-2 loss

The Peninsula Panthers have but nine games left in the regular season and although they dropped a hard-fought affair at the Panorama Recreation Centre on Friday night at the hands of the Saanich Braves, there were plenty of positives upon reflection.  The Braves are challenging for the top rung in the VIJHL but that did not seem to bother a determined group of Panthers over the 60 minutes.  But in the end, 20-year-old veteran Nick Guerra swooped down the left side and after beating a Panthers' defender, cut to the net and slipped the puck between the legs of Panthers' starter Justin Anderson to give the Braves an insurance marker and a 4-2 lead with only 2:50 remaining left in regulation.  The mountain would prove to be too high to climb and although Panthers' Head Coach Brad Tippett would pull Anderson in the final minute of play, a couple great chances did not translate into paydirt and that was all she wrote.

The Panthers outshot the Braves 13-6 in the 1st period however, both Anderson and Braves' starter Riley Mathieson held firm and sent both teams heading to the intermission with the score knotted at 0-0.

Braves Ted Brennan opened the scoring at the 6:27 mark of the middle period on a Panthers turnover.  The teams roared up and down the sheet and at the 14:02 mark, Owens broke free after roasting a Braves defenceman and went in all alone on Mathieson.  He ripped a shot that zoomed in just under the crossbar, a goal that was somewhat against the flow of play.  But the Braves Guerra was quick to respond.  At the 15:41 mark, he beat a Panthers rearguard at Centre Ice and romped in all alone on Anderson and made no mistake.  He ripped the puck high to the glove side on Anderson as it appeared that the big stopper had anticipated him going to the other side.

The final stanza saw the visitors open the scoring at the 7:46 mark when Evan Horvath tallied to give the Braves a 3-1 lead.  The Panthers pressed the play and had several opportunities to get back into the contest and they eventually cracked Mathieson at the 16:32 mark with two callups from the Peninsula Midget Club playing a big part.  Affiliate player Josh Lingard worked hard in his own end finally getting the puck up to Holden Cochrane on the wing.  Cochrane took off and raced down the right side while another Midget affiliate Tanner Wort sped down the middle towards the Braves cage.  Cochrane beat a defenceman and then deftly dished off to Wort in the low slot and he deposited a quick snap shot while skating full speed to bring the Panthers within a goal.  It would all be for naught when Guerra put the game on ice and once again the Panthers were close, but no cigar.

Tippett was questioned after the game and gave comments on the state of his Club moving down the stretch.  "While the standings did not change, we continue to get better and closer as a team  We have put 9 consecutive periods where I thought we had the better of the play in all areas.  We must continue to focus on improvement, finishing chances, finishing checks, winning puck battles and making good decisions.  We are playing with more bite, sticking up for each other.  I thought we were step for step, hit for hit and yes....punch for punch with a team basically averaging two years older.  Our special teams have improved greatly - Trevor Owens has been outstanding on both the PP and PK and is setting a great example for our younger players.  At one point we had a full two minute 5-3 penalty kill tonight and that was followed up with an additonal two minutes on the kill.  I thought it was a snapshot of how far we have come this season.  As a coaching staff, we are staying positive and also brutally honest with our team.  We made four individual mistakes and they cost us four goals - we will use that as a teaching tool.  We watched as each of the four players involved battled back and that was nice to see.  The flu bug has taken its toll and losing two left wingers in Duncan Cochrane and Carson Cox was significant.  This was an opportunity for everyone dressed to get some extra ice.  Saying that, we had a couple of passengers tonight who did not play well and in spite of a short bench, saw their ice time adjusted downward accordingly.  That can't and won't continue to happen.  We called up Lingard and Wort and both gave us outstanding and gritty efforts.  The players playing hard earn more ice time and both Josh and Tanner earned a chance to play in key situations over a couple of roster players.  Bottom line - the players that play hard, play a team game and make good choices play more."

Owens, Mathieson and Wort were named the three stars.  The Braves outshot the Panthers 31-28 on the night.

The Panthers head up to the Hub City Saturday to face the Nanaimo Buccaneers and will be back at home next Friday night for an important clash against the visiting Oceanside Generals.  The puck will drop at 7:30 pm.