It took a few games, but Liam Souliere is now showing why he was named goaltender of the year in the Central sa国际传媒 Hockey League last season and is headed next fall to the NCAA with the Penn State Nittany Lions.
The 20-year-old Souliere, who missed the first half of the sa国际传媒 Hockey League season with a knee injury, won his fifth straight start Friday night, helping the Victoria Grizzlies defeat the Chilliwack Chiefs 4-1 in front of 2,004 fans at the Chilliwack Coliseum.
The Grizzlies had to play the game without captain Marty Westhaver, who is day to day with an injury, but rookie winger Andrew Amousse filled in admirably on the top line with veteran Alex DiPaolo and star rookie Cody Monds. All three found the back of the net with Monds opening the scoring midway through the first period with his 21st goal of the season. DiPaolo finished off a nice feed from Vincent Nardone midway through the second, and just 21 seconds into the third, Amousse banged home a rebound from a Brady MacDonald shot to send the Grizzlies (21-29-1) to their fourth straight victory.
Rookie Brendan Bowie added some insurance, potting his second of the season five minutes into the third period.
The Chiefs (24-17-10) only goal came from Nicholas Cherkowski on a shorthanded breakaway midway through the third.
Souliere finished with 30 saves to improve to 6-4 on the season.
The Grizzlies now move to Coquitlam tonight to take on the league-leading Express.
LOOSE PUCKS: The Grizzlies were also without forward Eddie Yan, who has just finished playing for Team China at the Division II B world junior championship. China finished third, while host South Korea won the tournament to earn promotion to the Division II A world juniors next year.
