ROYALS FALL TO COUGARS

Victoria enjoys fifth sellout of season, but loses 3-1 to Prince George.

For Immediate Release

Saturday, February 18^th, 2012

Victoria, BC – In a Saturday night matchup in front of a capacity crowd at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre, the Victoria Royals played host to the Prince George Cougars in the second game of a doubleheader. Victoria started Keith Hamilton in net while Prince George countered with Drew Owsley.

Prince George opened the scoring at 8:23 of the opening frame when Caleb Belter hit Daniel Gibb with a pass from the bottom of the left circle. The Cougars’ defender stepped into the high slot and fired a shot that snuck under the glove hand of Hamilton. Belter would increase the Cougars’ lead to two late in the period after he wristed a shot just inside the blue line that beat Hamilton through a screen. Prince George made it 3-0 on a shorthanded break by Greg Fraser, who fired a high shot over the right shoulder of Hamilton. After the third goal, Victoria replaced Hamilton with backup Jared Rathjen. The Royals responded a just 27 seconds later on the same powerplay off of Hayden Rintoul’s 14^th of the year. From the left corner Robin Soudek fed Rintoul at the right point who blasted his shot off the right post past Owsley at 19:22. After 20 minutes of play, Prince George led 3-1.

The second period saw both teams deadlocked in a defensive struggle. Just past the halfway mark of the period, Victoria’s Keegan Kanzig and Prince George’s Campbell Elynuik dropped the gloves in a spirited bout. Both teams were unable to capitalize on powerplay chances, and after two periods Prince George maintained their 3-1 lead.

In the third period, the Royals’ Tim Traber and the Cougars’ Reid Jackson would square off in the game’s second fight of the night with the decision going to Traber. Neither team was able to light the lamp. Cougars 3 Royals 1.

Victoria went 1/5 = 20.0% on the power play, while Prince George was 1/5 = 20.0%. The Royals outshot the Cougars 29-27.

The Royals now travel to Kamloops for a weekday game against the Blazers on Wednesday, February 22^nd. Game time is slated for 7:00 p.m. at the Interior Savings Centre. Victoria will return home on Tuesday, February 28^th when they play host to the Spokane Chiefs. Game time is at 7:05 p.m. at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre. For further details or to purchase your tickets today, visit the Victoria Royals Ticket Office, www.selectyourtickets.com/victoriaroyals, e-mail vrtickets@victoriaroyals.com. or call 250-220-7889.

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