“Big goal” Cole Svendson scored his third of the night in overtime to keep White Rock Whalers alive in their Pacific Junior Hockey League conference final with Delta Ice Hawks.
On Monday (March 13), the home team won 5-4 at White Rock’s Centennial Arena when Svendson, a six-foot-four forward, scored 8:24 into the extra period to give the Whalers their first win of the series.
Delta now has a 3-1 advantage in this “Battle of Boundary Bay,” which shifts back to Ladner Leisure Centre for Game 5 Thursday night (March 16, 8:30 p.m. start).
If necessary, Game 6 would be played at South Surrey Arena on Saturday, and Game 7 is scheduled at North Delta’s Sungod Arena next Tuesday (March 21).
In Monday’s Game 4, Svendson’s linemates Chris Fortems and Zachary Sherwin added goals for the Whalers. In net, Evan Paul stopped 40 of 44 shots fired by the Ice Hawks.
At the other end of the ice, Merik Erickson was also busy turning away 41 of 46 shots for Delta, who had goals from Colin Jang, Tye Hemenway, Brayden Sinclair and Alex Lucchesi.
T. Hemenway ties it at 2 for @deltaicehawks with @WRWhalersHockey, who led Game 4 with 2 goals in the first. @ThePJHL pic.twitter.com/LAAXYISjR2
— Tom Zillich (@TomZillich) March 14, 2023
Game stats are posted on pjhl.net, along with schedules and more.
This series is a rematch for the Whalers and Ice Hawks, who are battling for the Tom Shaw conference championship a year after White Rock took down Delta in six games.
Heading into Monday’s matchup, Delta won the series’ first three games by identical 4-1 scores.
The winner of the Delta/White Rock series will play for the PJHL league championship against either Ridge Meadows Flames or Chilliwack Jets. In that conference final the Flames lead 3-0, with Game 4 in Sardis tonight (Tuesday).
The winner of the PJHL championship will advance to the Cyclone Taylor Cup tournament for B.C.’s Junior B teams, in Revelstoke this year starting April 13.
tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com
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