Harris's Hat Trick Sunday Earns U17 Canadians Home-and-Home Split

Nicholas Harris scored with 2:15 left in OT on Sunday, completing a hat trick, as the U17 AAA Greater Vancouver Canadians earned a home-and-home series split with the second-place Fraser Valley Thunderbirds. 

Harris’s three goals give him 14 on the season, tied with Trevor Chin for second on the team, one behind William Trolland’s 15. 

Sunday’s win was the Canadians’ third in four games, and all have been one-goal victories. GVC has also won 10 of its last 13 contests.

On Saturday at the Chilliwack Coliseum, the Thunderbirds jumped out to a 3-0 lead en route to a 4-1 triumph, ending the Canadians’ two-game win streak. Connor Ma scored the only goal for GVC, a power-play marker midway through the third. Joshua Read played well for the Canadians in the loss, and Gavin Dacpano and Jayden Rodas each picked up an assist. 

In Sunday’s game at the Richmond Oval—the team’s final home game of the season—the Canadians rallied from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Thunderbirds 5-4 in overtime, with Nicholas Harris scoring a hat trick including the OT winner. Harris scored twice in the second period, one minute apart, with GVC down 2-0, and then Bruce McLeod put the Canadians ahead 3-2 with 4:43 left in the second. After the Thunderbirds tied things up early in the third, Henry Goldman put GVC ahead 4-3 at the 3:19 mark. Fraser Valley evened the game 4-4 midway through the third, setting the stage for Harris’s OT heroics. In goal, D’Angelo Brual continued his strong play, stopping 24 shots for his eighth win of the season. 

The U17 Canadians (14-17-2-1, 31 points) have two games remaining in the regular season, taking on the Cariboo Cougars (13-18-1-2, 29 poins) on Feb. 22-23 at Prince George’s Kin Centre. It will be a battle for sixth place, with Saturday’s game at 6:30 p.m. and Sunday’s at 11:00 a.m.