A hot goalie caused problems for the Kerry Park Islanders on Friday, but the Isles were their own worst enemy the following night as they lost a pair of Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League games last weekend.
The Isles were beaten 2-0 by the Saanich Braves at George Pearkes Arena on Saturday as Riley Mathieson stopped 47 shots for the shutout.
“I thought we were pretty good,” Islanders coach Aaron Spotts said. “Overall, it wasn’t a bad effort.”
J.J. Pichette had a strong outing in the Kerry Park net, stopping 38 of the 40 pucks he saw. The Braves only managed to beat him with an even-strength goal midway through the first period and a powerplay marker in the third.
“J.J. did a really solid job,” Spotts said. “Obviously, you’ve got to score a couple of goals to win a hockey game.”
Back home at Kerry Park Arena on Saturday, the Isles lost 7-3 to the Westshore Wolves.
The Isles trailed 2-1 after the first period, getting their goal from Tanner Tiel. Westshore scored three times in the second, and the teams each had two goals in the third, the Isles with powerplay goals by Brandon Wilson and Keenan Eddy. Tiel and Eddy finished with a goal and an assist, and Brandon McClintick had two helpers. In goal, Chase Anderson allowed seven goals on 41 shots.
Spotts was disappointed with his team’s defensive play as they surrendered what he called “easy, easy goals.”
“We’ve got lots of things to work on as a team,” he said. “We’ll be looking to get some better results next week. We need to be harder to play against.”
The Isles have two home games this weekend, hosting the Peninsula Panthers on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and the Victoria Cougars on Sunday at 3 p.m. Their following four home games will be played on the road.
