U17 Canadians Sweep Winless Royals

The AAA U17 Greater Vancouver Canadians continued their hot streak over the weekend, sweeping the winless Vancouver Island Royals in their two-game set at the Richmond Olympic Oval.

Coming off a 4-3 victory the previous Sunday over the first-place Okanagan Rockets, the Canadians prevailed 5-2 on Saturday and 6-0 on Sunday, as they have won six of their past seven contests. 

With the sweep, the Canadians improve to 10-15-2-1, moving from eighth place to sixth in the U17 standings with 23 points. The Royals are 0-24-0-3 this season. 

On Saturday, Gavin Dacpano’s power-play goal late in the second period broke a 2-2 tie, as the Canadians went on to the 5-2 win. Although the Royals opened the scoring just 1:07 into the game, Nicholas Harris answered back just 30 seconds later for a 1-1 tie. Thomas Kanavos also scored in the first period, and Austin Mukai notched his first goal of the season 3:37 into the third period to give GVC some insurance. William Trolland made it 5-2 with 11:10 remaining with his 15th goal. Joshua Read made 13 saves in the victory for GVC. 

On Sunday, D’Angelo Brual picked up his second shutout of the season, stopping all 21 shots he faced. After a scoreless first period, GVC broke the game open with four goals in the second and went on to the 6-0 victory. Trevor Chin scored twice, giving him 12 goals on the year, and Henry Goldman, Bruce McLeod, Adam Allvin, and David Zhang also scored for GVC. For Zhang, it was his first goal of the season. 

Through 28 games this season, Trolland leads the Canadians with 15 goals and 26 points. Luke Wilson and Sean Wickenden, meanwhile, are tied for the team lead with 12 assists. 

Among the goalies, D’Angelo Brual leads the team with six wins and two shutouts in 16 games. Joshua Read, in his 15 appearances, has a team-best 3.67 goals-against average. 

Next up for the U17 Canadians, a weekend series on Feb. 1-2 against the Cariboo Cougars at the Richmond Olympic Oval.