The Similkameen News Leader
Sports Page - October 21, 2008
POSSE STICK IT TO SUMMERLAND
The Valley First Princeton Posse hosted Summerland Sting October 15th in their first home game in 18 days and it was a great game to watch.
Both teams came on strong and struggled to control the play throughout the entire game and action at times was so fast on ice that Posse webcast cameraman Randy McLean commented on how difficult it was for him to keep focusing on the play as it was happening.
Webcast play-by-play announcer George Elliott also had difficulty keeping up with the action below the broadcast booth.
"We're doing the webcast, but we're also fans and sometimes the fan in us takes over and things stop as we watch what's going on down there," Elliott says.
Princeton's Nick Cecconi scored the first goal of the night at 17:55 with assists going to Kieran Friesen and Kyle L'Arrivee.
Summerland replied 6-seconds later to tie the game.
"It was that sort of game," Elliott explains.
"While we were waiting for the official announcement to confirm the goal Summerland just popped one in. The entire match was that fast and that quick as both teams made each instant count. It was an awesome game to watch."
Princeton took the lead at 16:43 on the power play when Brooks Christensen took a pass from Kieran Friesen and blasted it past Summerland goalie Ben Vandervies. Spencer Brooks also earned an assist.
Summerland tied the game at 14:55 of the second period but the Posse bounced back less than a minute later with a goal by Kyle L'Arrivee who poked a pass from Jared Hidber into the Sting net.
L'Arrivee added to his point total at 11:23 with another Princeton goal. Assists came from Bill Marshall and Nick Cecconi.
Summerland responded with another goal just over a minute later.
Going into the third period Princeton was leading 4 to 3 and the final 20-minutes was as intense as the first two periods.
Princeton's Brody Brewster scored at 18:22 with assistance from Spencer Brooks and Thierry Martine and Summerland responded at 10:48.
The Posse added another goal at 8:15 (Brooks Christensen from Wade Masch) yet neither team let up.
Both goaltenders (Summerland's Ben Vandervies and Princeton's Tanner Sheridan) deserve credit for keeping their teams in the game despite playing blind during much of the game. The traffic in front of each net at times made it hard for either goalie to see pucks flying at them.
A fight at 4:25 sent five players off the ice, including Princeton's number one star of the game Kyle L'Arrivee.
"Fighting is so out of character for him," Randy McLean said during the Posse webcast.
"Someone must have said or done something that forced him to react that way."
Both L'Arrivee and Summerland's Brody Lynott earned 5-minute fighting penalties and 10-minute game misconducts for the display.
Final score: Princeton 6, Summerland 4. Shots on goal: Princeton 22, Summerland 24. Penalties in minutes: Princeton 55, Summerland 47.
POSSE BREAK 500!
The Valley First Princeton Posse hosted Spokane Braves October 18th at Princeton Arena.
Both teams had played the night before resulting in a win for Princeton in Sicamous and a loss for Spokane in Chase, which left both teams with equal win/loss records for the season.
The game was 'scrambly' at best as neither team held on to the puck for very long, which prevented a lot of plays from developing fully. Neither team dominated, which actually made for an interesting game of two evenly matched teams struggling to out muscle each other.
The first period zipped by quickly with only one penalty called (Princeton's Kieran Friesen for Roughing After the Whistle) and with only 33.3-seconds left in the frame Spokane managed to break the scoreless tie on the power play near the end of Friesen's penalty.
Princeton tied the game at 17:16 of the second period when Thierry Martine took a pass from Riley Ferster, moved it into the corner to the left of the Spokane net then fed it out from the boards into traffic in front of the goal where Evan Weaver flipped it past the Braves netminder.
The Posse took the lead at 8:22 when Riley Ferster passed to a waiting Kyle L'Arrivee who was in front of the Spokane goal. L'Arrivee slipped a quick backhander into the netting for Princeton's second goal.
The third period saw both teams attempt to take control of the game with brute force, and at times it worked, but not enough to tip the game in favour of the Canadian or American team.
A time out called by Spokane with only 1:19 left in the game gave everyone a much needed breather and with 1:07 left, Princeton's Brooks Christensen scored an unassisted goal just by being in the right place at the right time.
Both teams continued to try to dominate with physical strength, but all that resulted were a number of Game Misconducts.
The Braves narrowed Princeton's lead with another goal of their own with 9.4-seconds remaining but it wasn't enough to tie the match and force overtime.
Final score: Princeton 3, Spokane 2. Shots on goal: Spokane 36, Princeton 34. Spokane collected 68-minutes from 11 penalties with Princeton earning 36-minutes in the box from 7 infractions.
Next home game is this Friday, October 24th against Beaver Valley.
