Photo: Target Photography
Written by: Rory McGouran
Man-advantage doesn’t quite sell it.
Man-unstoppable is more fitting, as the Brooks Bandits defeated the Sherwood Park Crusaders 8-3 on Wednesday night, picking up their first road victory of the season and extending their winning streak to four games.
The Bandits’ powerplay finished the night 60% on 10 attempts, convincingly started with five consecutive PP goals on thier first five attempts.
The Crusaders, hampered by undisciplined play paired with a relentless Bandits’ attack, never had a chance to catch their breath as the Bandits built a 5-0 lead midway through the second period.
Jeremy Leroux, Alexandre Monarque, Koby Francis, Makaio Van Tassel, and Leon Gerber filled the net with the initial powerplay goals. It was the first career BCHL goals for Monarque and Gerber. Francis picked up his first goal as a Bandit, and Van Tassel extended his goal-scoring streak to five games, scoring in every game so far this season.
Following a Mavrick Brunet shorthanded goal for the Crusaders, the Bandits responded with three more in the third period to build an 8-1 lead. Leroux and Francis both picked up their second on the game, with the latter finishing with four points on the night. Finally, another souvenir puck was kept as Jacob Bultje scored his first BCHL goal to round out the scoring.
Sherwood Park added two goals late from Max Anderson and Brunet’s second of the game. However there was no closing the grand canyon sized gap created by the Bandits’ man-advantage.
Alexei Zhukov and Zachary Deleau finished the night with a par of assists. Deleau now has a point in each game to start the season. Monarque also added a pair of assists for a three-point night.
Emile Beaunoyer picked up his third straight victory, backstopping the Bandits to a 30 of 33 save performance.
The victory marks the end of five straight Interior-East divisional games with the Bandits standing in first place and a 4-1-0 record. They will not play again until October 9th when they host the Alberni Valley Bulldogs for the first game between the two teams in franchise history
