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Bandits shutout Crusaders to wrap up 4 game cohort and earn 7th straight victory

BROOKS, AB (April 24, 2021) – The Brooks Bandits winning streak has been extended to 7 games thanks to a dominant 5-0 shutout victory over the Sherwood Park Crusaders on Saturday at the Centennial Regional Arena.

Goaltender Jared Whale made 9 saves for his 1st career AJHL shutout, while Bandits forwards TJ Hughes and Devin Phillips each had 4 point games. Brooks (13-1) won all 4 games against Sherwood Park (6-8-2) in the cohort, outscoring them 24-9 in the process. Crusaders starter Lochlan Gordon made 43 saves in the loss.

Highlights presented by Days Inn & Suites Brooks:

The Bandits thought they had opened the scoring 7:08 into the game on a Brendan Kennette (Sacred Heart) wrist shot, but it was waved-off due to a goaltender interference call. With 6 minutes remaining in the frame, Hughes (Robert Morris) one-timed a Phillips (Holy Cross) pass from the goal line on the powerplay to make it 1-0 Brooks. Shots were 12-5 Bandits.

Brooks doubled their lead to 2-0 after killing off penalty 13:03 into the 2nd. Forward Anthony Cipollone came out of the box and fed a pass to Sean Chisholm (Dartmouth), who skated to the net and buried a forehand shot. Brooks made it 3-0 at 16:29 as centre Taylor Makar (UMass) fed a puck to Phillips in the slot, who passed to an open Hughes who scored from the right circle. Brooks dominated in shots, 19-2 in the period.

19 seconds into the 3rd period, another Bandit goal was waved off as Cipollone was said to have kicked in a puck. Brooks would make it 4-0 later at 12:45 on the powerplay, as Phillips snuck a puck past Gordon, and that was followed by a Cipollone goal, who cleaned up a Hughes shot to make it 5-0 with 3:05 left in the game. Final shots were 48-9 Bandits.

Honda Magic Coach’s Recap:

The Bandits will wait for an announcement from the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) on the next schedule of games.