JR. BELLIES STRIKE FIRST IN PLAYOFFS WITH DOUBLE OT WIN GAME TWO TONIGHT IN DELTA

The NW Jr. Bellies drew first blood in their opening quarter final matchup with the Delta Islanders Tuesday at Queens Park Arena in NW. Fans were treated to a nail biting double overtime game, with the Bellies ending it with a goal from Andrew Bishop 1:12 into the sudden death overtime, after both teams traded goals in regular OT. The Bellies now carry a 1 – 0 series lead into tonight’s (Wednesday August 4^th) game against the Islanders in Delta.

The Bellies were led offensively by Austin Ducommen with 4 goals and 3 assists. Playmaker Jaden Sealy racked up 6 assists, Ben Stewart had 3 goals and 2 assists, A Bishop chalked up 2 goals and 2 assists including the winning goal and Drew Andre chipped in with 3 assists.

Strong defensive performances were turned in by Nikhal Dhandwar, Evan Pattison, Ben Soenen and Cole Catton. The Bellies also received timely and stellar goaltending from veteran Keegan Melnychuk, who stopped 43 shots and came through in overtime allowing only the 1 goal in regular OT then shutting the door down in the sudden death.

Bellies GM Warren Goss emphasized how, “The whole team rallied for this game, after we closed the season with 2 losses and also suffered a number of critical injuries in our last 3 regular season games.”

Tonight’s second game in this best of 3 series starts at 7:30 at The Ladner Events Center and game, if necessary, will be Friday August 6^th at Queens Park Arena in NW.