The Quality Foods Oceanside Generals recently took on two of the top teams in the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League, the Campbell River Storm and the Nanaimo Buccaneers.
The Generals battled hard in both games but unfortunately ended up with a 2-1 loss in a shootout against the Buccaneers at the Nanaimo Ice Centre on Jan. 31, and a 3-1 loss against the Storm at Oceanside Place on Feb. 2.
Against the Buccaneers, Brady Kay gave the Generals the lead at 16:43, but with less than 30 seconds left to play in the first period Bill Walters tied it up 1-1. Neither team was able to score again in regular time and also in double overtime forcing a shootout. It was the Buccaneers that scored to earn the win. The Generals will take on the Buccaneers two more times this month on Feb. 16 at Oceanside Place and on Feb. 17 at the Nanaimo Ice Centre.
Generals goaltender James Brendeland stopped 45 of 46 shots he faced. He was the away star of the game.
After the loss against the Buccaneers, the Generals faced another tough nemesis, the Storm. After a scoreless opening frame, the Generals surged ahead at 3:06 in the second period off the stick of Cole Ford. But just over a minute later, the Storm’s Mike Dyck levelled it up 1-1 and midway through the period, Pearce Messer made it 2-1. The Storm made it 3-1 on a man advantage at 3:00 in the final period and held on to the two point gap until the final buzzer sounded.
Generals Jacob Sweet had a busy night as he faced 35 shots and made 32 saves to earn the home star of the night.
The Generals hit the road on Thursday night to face the second-best team in the VIJHL, the Victoria Cougars. Then on Friday night, the Generals host the Comox Valley Glacier Kings at Oceanside Place at 7 p.m.