The New Westminster Royals atom A1 hockey team beat Mission 3-2 is a tense final at the Port Moody rep Christmas hockey tournament to end the old year.
The Royals started the tournament with a convincing 6-2 win over South Delta Storm A2. Six different players shared in the goal scoring, including Alex Lazecki, Brennan Ryan, Carson Bujnowicz, Dante Ballarin and call-ups Liam Bates and Josh Domingues. Keegan Melenychuk was the winning goaltender.
The Chilliwack A2 Bruins slid by the Royals 3-2 in the second game. Domingues and Ballarin tallied for New West.
New West came back strong again in their final round-robin game, whipping West Vancouver A1 6-3. Noah Armitage had four points, including two goals, while Ashlen Rutherford added a pair of goals. Ballarin and Ryan finished out the Royals' scoring. Melenychuk was again solid in goal for New Westminster.
In the semi-final against North Vancouver A2, the Royals played a solid, all-round game and won handily 5-2. Bujnowicz led the way with a pair of markers, while Lazecki, Armitage and Trevor Shweitzer also found the back of the net. Mathew Forero was solid and backstopped the win in goal for the Royals.
The final against a strong Mission Stars A1 team was exciting and evenly played. Shots were 22 each in the fast-paced match. Melenychuk was outstanding in net, frustrating the Stars forwards all game long. After taking a 2-0 lead on goals by Ashlen Rutherford and Alec Lakusta, Mission pulled their goalie late in the third and scored to pull with one. Soon after, Bates scored the eventual game-winner on a nice backhand pass from Lazecki to seal the deal. Mission scored again with 12 seconds left but that was as close as they could come to the Royals.
Scoring was very evenly spread around the entire Royals team. Four players, including Ballarin, Armitage, Rutherford and Lazecki each had seven points. Ryan and Lakusta added five points each, while Bujnowicz added four points. Bates and Domingues each pitched in with three points. Schweitzer and defenceman Kieran Isbister added assists. Strong defensive play by Jacob Hamm, Sean Bocirnea and Noel Wong anchored a strong Royals' defence, along with the stellar play of goalies Forero and Melenychuk.
The Royals are coached by Shawn Lakusta, Brad Melenychuk and Perry Armitage.
