Photo credit: Garrett James Photography
Penticton Vees – 7
Salmon Arm Silverbacks – 4
Bradly Nadeau and Aydar Suniev each scored twice, while Ben Brunette, Josh Nadeau and Brett Moravec also had multi-point outings as the Penticton Vees topped the Salmon Arm Silverbacks 7-4 in Game 5 of the Interior Final to advance to the league championship series for the second year in a row.
After a scoreless first period, we seemed destined for a tight, low-scoring contest for the third straight game, but the Vees offence exploded for four goals in the middle frame with Bradly Nadeau and Suniev each scoring twice, Nadeau’s first coming just six seconds into the period. CJ Foley got the Silverbacks on the board and it was 4-1 at intermission. Penticton looked to have put the game away with goals 17 seconds apart by Billy Norcross and Josh Nadeau early in the third, but Salmon Arm would not go away, scoring three straight to make it 6-4 after Maddux Martin scored twice and Isaac Lambert added another. A Frank Djurasevic empty-netter late killed the comeback and made it a 7-4 final.
Bradly Nadeau added an assist to his pair of goals to finish with three points and extended his playoff leading point total to 30 in 13 games.
With the win, the Vees will host the Alberni Valley Bulldogs in Game 1 of the Fred Page Cup Final on Friday, May 12.
