Alberni Valley and the Coquitlam Express continue to make a case that their matchups against one another are must-see hockey here in the BCHL. The 4th rendition of Bulldogs-Express went the way of the Dog Pound Proprietors but it wasn’t without some excitement along the way coupled with great early signs for some of the newest Express members.
The first period was highly contested on both sides with Coquitlam and Alberni digging deep into the bag of tricks for both sides. Whenever a game heats up like this, something has to give. Unfortunately for Coquitlam the first domino fell in Alberni’s favor as the Bulldogs found a shot from the point that evaded Adam Manji through a heavy traffic presence in front of the goal. Coquitlam weathered the ensuing flurry from the opposition and mustered some chances of their own, they just couldn’t beat Port Moody’s very own Calum Tung.
Once in the second, the lid truly came off the goalscoring basket. The Bulldogs kept the flow of play fast paced and following a great save from Tung, they pushed the puck the other way and Grayson Badger broke free behind the defence for a nice feed in tight, slotting it past Manji. They would waste little time, feeling the energy of the Alberni faithful, less than two minutes later a Lenny Greenberg point shot was knocked down in front and Matt Kursonis slid it past the Coquitlam netminder. Luke Vardy was the answer the Express needed late in the frame. He rifled home a wicked one timer from the right circle to extend his goal streak to 3 games.
Jake Manfre got the party started in the third as the Powerplay got a much needed marker. Cole Melady continued to show off his impressive passing, teeing up Manfre for a blast from a similar spot Vardy cashed in from. That goal came halfway through the frame and the Dog Pound was electric with the one goal lead being assailed by Coquitlam. Fast forward to just over 2 minutes left and the Express came oh so very close. The Bulldogs left Drew Garzone all alone right at the back post next to Callum Tung and Melady saw it. A beautiful pass found Garzone, he just couldn’t find enough purchase on it and sent it wide of the goal. On the ensuing counterattack from Alberni, Phil Lalonde fed he puck through to a streaking Wyatt Blace and he one time tipped it past Adam Manji to spread the margin to two. Of particular note on this goal was the similarity to Badger’s goal from back in the second. Both goals saw the Express defence get beat back to the high danger areas right down the middle.
If there’s one thing the Express can always pull out of their magician’s cap, its the 6-5 extra attacker. It came through again in this one with Sam Frandina blasting home a shot from the point off a feed from Mathew Frost, as the Moose Jaw product gets his first BCHL point. The magic would come up just short however with the Bulldogs able to steal the puck and deposit an empty netter for the 5-3 final.
The energy on both teams was something to behold tonight. For the Express especially this was a much better overall effort than the Powell River trip last weekend. A hard fought game like this, despite the loss, continues to prove that this Express team is legitimate and will be a threat to any side it comes up against as the season progresses. Even further on the upside is the fact that the newest additions have only had limited time to acclimate to the Coquitlam system of play. Buckle up Express fans, there is plenty of good on the horizon.
Up next is a 7pm showdown at Frank Crane against Nanimo Saturday Night.
FORTIS BC ENERGY PLAYER – Brady McIsaac
MARINER BREWING 3 STARS
3rd – AV – Callum Tung – 30 Saves on 33 Shots
2nd – AV – Grayson Badger – 1G
1st – AV – Braden Blace – 1G
– Ian Wilson
