Braedyn Louie scored a natural hat-trick in the first period to lead Powell River U18 Kings in an 8-1 win over Peninsula Eagles at the Cloverdale U18 Memorial Tournament on Saturday, November 12.
For the third game in a row, Kings had a lead by the two-minute mark of the first period.
Louie collected a rebound from a Tyler Durant shot and beat the Eagles’ goaltender from close range to open the scoring, then added two goals in a span of a minute. Midway through the period, while killing a penalty, his hard shot from deep in the slot found the back of the net, as did his next shot on goal, in similar fashion, from the hash marks to the goalie’s left.
Liam Carroll added to the lead before the period ended, slamming home a rebound from a point shot to make it 4-0.
Louie, who was named game MVP, converted a Kings’ power play opportunity into his fourth goal of the game 16 seconds into the second period.
Peninsula ended Josh McCormick’s shutout bid three minutes later, but Powell River continued its dominance, adding a pair of goals from Carroll and Griffin Padgett for a 7-1 lead after 40 minutes.
Dreydan Harris scored the lone goal of the third period.
Powell River squared off against the hosts from Cloverdale later that evening to complete the group portion of the tournament.
Ben Belyea opened the scoring at 5:47 of the first period for the Kings, spinning in front of goalie and redirecting a point shot into the net. Tristan Peake doubled the lead 20 seconds later, and Harris, on a two-on-one setup from Belyea, made it 3-0 before intermission.
Louie overpowered the Cloverdale goalie with a shorthanded blast from just inside the blue line midway through the middle stanza, but Cloverdale responded 20 seconds later with their first and only goal of the game.
Belyea poked in Harris rebound late in the second period, and Carroll scored his first of two on the night by lifting the puck on the ice and into the net "Michigan-style" for a 6-1 lead.
Tyler Durant and Carroll added third period goals to close out the scoring and make the final 8-1.
Powell River finished with a perfect 4-0 record in their group. Semi-final and medal games (times TBA) are scheduled for Sunday, November 13.
Kings won their first two games of the tournament against Penticton and Whitehorse on November 11.
All tournament games are taking place at Surrey Sport and Leisure Centre.
The team’s next home game is against Nanaimo at 1:15 pm on Saturday, November 19.
