Cooper Zech, Josh Arnold and Matt Dorsey had a goal and an assist each, Sam Hesler added a pair of helpers and Austin Park stopped 29 of the 31 shots he faced as the Wenatchee Wild beat the Spruce Grove Saints 7-2 in Game 5 of the Doyle Cup to win the series and advance to the RBC Cup National Junior A Championship.
After a scoreless first 15 minutes of the first period, the teams exploded for three goals in 44 seconds, Arnold and Sam Morton for the Wild and Logan Ganie for the Saints, and Wenatchee led 2-1 after one. Ganie tied it up with his second goal of the game a minute into the second period, but August Von Ungern restored the lead for the Wild less than a minute later. AJ Vanderbeck and Dorsey added goals for Wenatchee before the end of the frame to give them a 5-2 lead heading into the third. Jasper Weatherby sealed it with a power-play marker midway through the period and Zech added an empty netter as the Wild cruised to the 7-2 win.
With his two-goal performance in Game 5, Saints forward Logan Ganie ended up with the most points in the Doyle Cup series.
Park bounced back with a solid outing after getting pulled in Game 4, finishing the series with .926 save percentage and a 2.30 goals-against average with one shutout.
With the win, Wenatchee is the first team to advance to the RBC Cup, which gets going May 12. The Wild’s first game of the tournament will be Saturday, May 12 against the host Chilliwack Chiefs.
