SPORTSNOW SPORTS SHORTS TWO NAMED TO WEST
Sukh Chungh and Steve Mawa were named to Team West’s football lineup for next month’s spotlight East-West Bowl game, which is staged by Canadian Interuniversity Sport. The two Port Coquitlam natives enjoyed standout seasons with their respective university squads. Chungh, an offensive lineman at the University of Calgary, was named to the Canada West all-star team following the 2013 season. Mawa, meanwhile, has been starring with the University of B.C. since transferring two seasons ago from Santa Rosa Junior College. The sixfoot-four defensive lineman collected 17 tackles and 10 assists last year. The bowl game is part of combine week, hosted by Western University in London, Ont.
TALONS CRUISE IN CALI
A spring break trip to California’s Bay Area proved to be a great adventure for the Gleneagle Talons boys rugby team. The team, fortified by some players from Port Moody, Dr. Charles Best and Westview, sandwiched victories over PITS (31-5) and Pleasantside (29-19) around a loss to 2012 State champion Lamorinda. In the first win, senior lock Patrick Baloc led the way with a dominating performance, while Mitch Howey shredded the PITS defence. Gleneagle closed out the tour in Livermore against Pleasanton. Powered by the defensive work of Kallam Harley, Kaell Hutchinson and Baloc, the Talons forced a handful of errors that the team capitalized on. A standout all game at eight-man was Hans Stander.
STEALTH TRIP UP BANDITS
Rhys Duch tallied four times and set up four others, setting the pace in the Vancouver Stealth’s 12-8 win over the Buffalo Bandits Saturday in Langley. Deadlocked 3-3 after one quarter, the Stealth struck for four straight goals to build up a good 9-5 lead at halftime. They’d hold that margin much of the night. Netting a pair of goals and drawing six assists was Lewis Ratcliff, while Brett Bucktooth potted two goals and two helpers. Netminder and Coquitlam native Tyler Richards turned aside 35 shots on the night. At the other end, Anthony Cosmo faced 61 Vancouver shots. The Stealth’s next test comes Saturday, 7 p.m., when the Toronto Rock pay a visit to the Langley Events Centre.
THE TRI-CITIES NOW | FRIDAY, APRIL 4, 2014
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Express rally past Grizzlies
ONE MORE WIN WOULD LOCK UP A BERTH INTO BCHL FINAL
Dan OLSON
sports@thenownews.com After 40 minutes, the Coquitlam Express were fortunate to be in it. One period later, the home team had reversed that fortune and put the Victoria Grizzlies in a corner. The Express surged on the strength of two goals each from captain Ryan Rosenthal and Bo Pieper to best the visiting Grizzlies 6-3 Tuesday in the club’s second game of the B.C. Hockey League’s threeteam round-robin semifinal in Coquitlam. The two teams played Thursday (past the Tri-Cities NOW’s deadline) in Victoria, and a win for Coquitlam would clinch a spot in the BCHL championship final. Rosenthal’s two goals kept the club in the contest, tying the game both times as Victoria showed a lot more jump during much of the opening two periods. The 20-year-old’s second tally came with 5:04 left in the middle frame and was a product of some timely urgency. The Montvale, NJ native charged hard and forced a turnover deep in Victoria’s end that he would bang into the net, making it 2-2. Despite being outshot 23-12 over the first 40 minutes, the Express rediscovered its game — the same game that saw them bump off both Prince George and Langley in earlier rounds. They came out hard in the third, with Rosenthal nearly completing the hat trick three minutes into the period only to be turned back by Victoria goalie Nic Renyard. The Grizzlies netminder would also thwart Jace Hennig’s point-blank blast a minute later. Flashing the tenacity that made them the league’s highest-scoring team during the regular season, the Express took the lead at 5:12 when Bo Pieper broke down the left wing on a two-on-one, holding the puck all the way before snapping it low from the slot. Just 90 seconds later, he’d cash in his second tally, a centring pass from the backboards that was accidentally kicked in by Renyard. Corey Mackin, on a powerplay three minutes later, and Zach Hodder, with five minutes left, pushed Coquitlam’s lead to 6-2. The Grizzlies would net a late powerplay marker but otherwise failed to mount any serious push over the final 10 minutes. The flood of goals was a welcome sign for Coquitlam head coach Barry Wolff, who has witnessed his snipers become tentative and appear nervous around the goal to start this round. “It was huge, and they were quality goals for the most part, good shots finding the holes,” said Wolff. “We had traffic to the net, that was the big difference for us... You can’t be fussy with shot selection, just get the puck there.” Rosenthal finished with two goals and two assists, Mackin a goal and two helpers, and Adam Rockwood recorded four assists. At the other end, Gordy Defiel was sharp in turning aside 30 shots. The club’s occasional slow start is mostly attributed to the team’s lack of playoff experience, said the coach. “We’re nervous, for whatever reason. We have young kids in big roles and a lot of guys in that room haven’t been in playoffs, don’t know how to handle [it],” said Wolff. “We’re learning and hopefully
LISA KING/NOW
Nicholas Rasovic, left, and Bo Pieper celebrate Pieper’s first goal of the third period that kickstarted the Coquitlam Express’ 6-3 win over Victoria on Tuesday. To see more photos, scan this page with Layar.
learning in a hurry.” The win gives Coquitlam a 1-1 record in the three-team series, while Victoria falls to 0-2. Vernon sit first at 2-0. If Victoria won on Thursday, the Express will host Vernon on Monday (April 7), 7 p.m. at the Poirier Sports Centre.