BROOKS, AB (April 30, 2024) – The Brooks Bandits are off to the next round of the Rogers BCHL Playoffs following a 5-1 win over the Okotoks Oilers in Game 7 of the Alberta Semifinal in front of 1,703 fans on Tuesday at the Centennial Regional Arena.
Caelan Fitzpatrick scored a hat trick, as the Bandits outshot Okotoks 46-23 in their first Game 7 since 2015. The Bandits take the best-of-seven series 4 games to 3, and will face the Sherwood Park Crusaders in the Alberta Division Final.
The Bandits solved Oilers starter Christian Green with 28 seconds left in the period on the powerplay, as Fitzpatrick (Moose Jaw, SK) fired a shot from the slot on a pass from Nic DeGraves (Edmonton, AB).
Bandits forward Nathan Free (Calgary, AB) doubled the lead at 4:44 of the 2nd period, finishing off a Logan Sawyer (Orangeville, ON) cantering pass. Okotoks got one back at 16:40, as Rylan Brown scored from the left circle to cut the lead to 2-1. But just 21 seconds later, Fitzpatrick tapped in a backdoor pass from Ty Mason (Weyburn, SK) to make it 3-1.
Just 29 seconds into the 3rd, forward Nick Peluso (Rochester, NY) scored on a give-and-go pass from Parker Lalonde (Aberdeen, SK) to make it 4-1. Fitzpatrick sealed the win at 11:59 by firing in a forehand shot to make it 5-1. Goaltender Johnny Hicks (Kamloops, BC) made 22 saves.
The Bandits will face the Sherwood Park Crusaders in the Alberta Final, with a full schedule to be released at a later date.
