Five different players scored for the Brooks Bandits, who opened the 2024 Rocky Mountain Challenge with a 5-2 win over the Surrey Eagles on Friday in Brooks to take a 1-0 Series lead.
Logan Sawyer scored for the Bandits only 53 seconds into the game with the assists to Nathan Free and Luke Marshall.
Shots on goal in the first period were 10-8 for the Bandits
Aberdeen, Saskatchewan’s Parker Lalonde then makes it 2-0 Brooks at 12:49 of the second frame with the assists on the goal going to Mirko Buttazzoni and Keith McInnis
Jordan Hughesman makes it 3-0 only 8 seconds later at 12:57 with the helpers on that goal going to David Patella and Luke Marshall.
And that was the end of Surrey goalkeeper Ajeet Gundarah’s night. Not that his team was helping him out very much. He faced numerous breakaways. Him only letting in 3 goals was really a miracle in itself.
David Patella makes it 4-0 at 17:36 of the second period with the assists going to Brock Souch (again why did it appear that he got traded from Sherwood Park for what seemed like nothing) and Jordan Hughesman.
Former Lloydminster Bobcat and Albertan Carter Frankiw scored for Surrey on the Power Play to get them on the board at 19:22 of the second period. The assists on the goal went to Thornton, Ontario native Ryan Evenhuis and Evan Brown.
Rochester, New York native Caden Cranston then cuts the lead to 4-2 with 8 seconds left in the second period. The assists on the goal went to Parkland, Florida native and Quinnipiac commit Aaron Schwartz and Nathan Oickle
Shots on goal in the second period were 14-5 for the Bandits
Surrey pulled the goalie with 3 minutes left
Hunter Wallace scored into the empty net with 63 seconds left in the game to make the final score 5-2. The assist on the goal went to Nic DeGraves.
Shots on goal in the third period were 13-7 for the Bandits. Brooks outshot Surrey 37-20 in the game.
Johnny Hicks made 18 saves on the 20 shots that he faced for the win for the Bandits. While for the Surrey Eagles 20 year old Sacred Heart commit Ajeet Gundarah made 19 saves on the 22 shots that he faced before being pulled after the 3rd goal in the second period. He was replaced by Colton Jugnauth who made 13 saves on the 14 shots that he faced. Colton Jugnauth is the brother of Portland Winterhawk and Seattle Kraken draft pick Tyson Jugnauth.
Three Stars of the game were 1) David Patella 2) Johnny Hicks 3) Caden Cranston
Attendance in Brooks was 1444
Next game of the best of 3 Rocky Mountain Challenge is tonight in Brooks.
