Penticton Vees earn their second consecutive Ron Boileau Memorial Trophy as BCHL Regular Season champions

Photo: Contributed

With their 13-1 victory over the Merritt Centennials Friday night at Nicola Valley Memorial Arena, the Penticton Vees have earned their second consecutive Ron Boileau Memorial Trophy as BC Hockey League Regular Season champions.

In their seventh-straight win on Friday night, the Vees are ranked first overall in the BCHL and have now secured home-ice advantage throughout the BCHL playoffs.

Their 13 goals set a new season high for goals in a game, surpassing their previous high-water mark of 11, set back on Nov. 18, against West Kelowna.

The scoring began early with six first-period goals, which is also a season-high for most goals in the opening for Penticton. Hiroki Gojsic, Beanie Richter, Ryan Hopkins, Thomas Pichette, Aydar Suniev and Josh Nadeau all scored against Merritt.

Captain Frank Djurasevic scored the only goal in the second period when Penticton took a 7-0 lead into the second intermission.

Six more goals were followed in the third period to put the game out of reach for Merritt. Suniev scored twice in the final frame to complete the hat trick.

Penticton also got third-period goals from Bradly Nadeau, Josh Nadeau, Norcross, and Pichette.

Luca Di Di Pasquo was carrying a shutout bid into the back half of the final frame before Merritt’s Aidan Lindblad scored with just under eight minutes left. Pasquo is the league-leading goaltender with his 30 wins this season and stopped 15 of 16 shots in the game.

The Vees' next game is Saturday night in Trail, with the puck drop at 7 p.m.

Photo: Contributed