Bandits take Game 1 of South Final, 9-2 over Okotoks
BROOKS, AB (March 31, 2017) – The Brooks Bandits tallied nine goals in front of a season-high 1,923 fans, the largest crowd at the Centennial Regional Arena in nearly two full years, taking a 1 game to none series lead in the best of seven league semi-final with a 9-2 victory over the Okotoks Oilers on Friday night.
Parker Foo (Edmonton, AB) had two goals and an assist, while linemate Josh McKechney (Calgary, AB) had one goal and three assists, as the two have both now recorded 14 points each in just 5 playoff games.
A Cale Makar (Calgary, AB) shot from the right half boards 3:16 into the game opened the scoring, with Ty Mappin doubling the lead at 17:24, jamming a puck in from the left side of the Okotoks net off a backdoor pass from Nick Prkusic (Medicine Hat, AB) at the right circle. Brooks outshot the Oilers 14-4 in the first.
In the second, the Oilers cut the deficit in half at 3:07 when Jordie Lawson tipped a Carson Beers point shot past Mitch Benson (Windsor, ON). But the Bandits responded with three straight goals; a Foo slapshot goal from the bottom of the right circle, a Nathan Plessis (Salmon Arm, B.C.) deflection off a scramble in front of the net, and a Prkusic blast from the blue line on the power play to make it 5-1.