Township of Langley, BC (Saturday, September 19 2015) –The Langley Rivermen opened their home schedule with a 5-0 win over the Prince George Spruce Kings on Saturday night at the Langley Events Centre. It was a solid 60 minute team effort for the Rivermen, who moved to 2-0-0-0 early on in the BCHL season. The scoring was spread throughout the line-up, with five different players notching a goal. In total, 13 players recorded a point.
“I thought it was a little bit scrambly through the first two periods. I didn’t think we had great legs tonight, but overall I thought the guys played a smart game. They did a great job of moving the puck and supporting it all night and played well within our structure”, said Rivermen Head Coach and GM Bobby Henderson after the win.
Justin Szeto opened the scoring for the Rivermen at the 11:25 mark of the first period. Matthew Graham registered the only assist, as he made the whole play happen off the rush into the Prince George zone. For Szeto, it was his second goal in as many games and stood to be the only one scored in the period.
During a power play early on in the second period, Dominic Franco scored his first career BCHL goal, as he finished off a rebound near the Prince George crease. Ben Butcher and Adam Sinclair earned the assists. Langley’s team defense was solid only allowing five shots towards Bo Didur after 40 minutes.
At 3:56 of the third, the Rivermen capitalized on another power play, as Cameron Ginnetti scored his first in the BCHL streaking down the left point. The goal was perfectly set up from behind the goal from Chase Zieky, who drew the only assist. The night of first’s continued for Rivermen rookies, as Justin Fregona notched his first career goal at 12:39 to extend the lead to four. Zachary Bleuler and Ryan Barrow had the helpers. With time winding down, Zac Masson scored on another Langley power play, with Alec Capstick and Jordan Schneider picking up the assists.
Defensive efforts do not get much better, as the Rivermen allowed just 10 shots in the entire game, making way for Bo Didur to earn his first shutout of the season.
“I was really impressed with the guys on the back-end tonight. Considering we have a 16 and 17 year old back there playing some pretty big minutes, I thought it was a great effort all around from everyone”, Henderson noted.
It was a memorable night for Franco, Ginnetti, and Fregona, who scored their first career goals in their first ever game at the LEC. For their efforts, all three factored in on the three stars.
“We are extremely happy for those three to get their first goals and feel they will contribute regularly this year. Also, you got to look at a guy like Capstick (the teams youngest player) as well, he picked up his first point, and for a 16 year old, I feel he played with poise beyond his years,” Henderson finished.
The Rivermen will host the Wenatchee Wild on Sunday, September 20th at 3:00PM. It will be the first ever visit to the Langley Events Centre for the BCHL’s newest team.
NOTES: Shots on Goal: LAN 23, PG 10. Power play: LAN 3/11, PG 0/7. Saves/Shots: LAN – Bo Didur 10/10 (W), PG – Sam Tanguay 18/23 (L). Three Stars: 1st: LAN Cameron Ginnetti, 2nd: LAN Justin Fregona, 3rd: LAN Dominic Franco.
