Beljo scores game winner as Bandits break 3rd period tie and double Wolverines 6-3 on Friday at CRA

BROOKS, AB (January 14, 2022) – Devin Phillips scored twice, Dario Beljo scored the game winner and the Brooks Bandits doubled up the Whitecourt Wolverines 6-3 on Friday at the Centennial Regional Arena.

The Bandits (39-2-1) have not lost at home in 20 straight games since September 18. Ethan Barwick made 23 saves for the win, while Wolverines starter Carson Ironside made 50 saves.

Highlights:

Whitecourt needed only 38 seconds to score as forward Christiano Aiello skated in from the neutral zone and fired in a wrist shot to make it 1-0. But the Bandits tied it up at 10:34 following an offensive zone faceoff win from TJ Hughes (Mercyhurst), who found Phillips (Holy Cross) in front for the one-timer to make it 1-1. Phillips scored again at 14:33 on the powerplay, as linemate Ryan McAllister (Western Michigan) rushed behind the net and fed a no-look pass to Phillips, who knocked in the puck to give Brooks a 2-1 lead. Shots in the 1st were 16-8 Bandits.

Whitecourt tied the game 10:35 into the 2nd, as Aiello finished off a two-on-one pass for his second of the game. At 13:17, Brooks retook the lead as forward Hunter Wallace (RPI) tipped in an Anthony Cipollone (Quinnipiac) left circle pass to make it 3-2 Bandits. But the Wolverines wouldn’t go away, as forward Tyler Mahan found a rebound and scored to tie the game 3-3 with 45 seconds left in the 2nd. Shots were 19-12 Brooks.

Beljo broke the tie at 4:58 of the 3rd, as he skated from the half wall to the left circle and let go a wrist shot in the bottom right corner to make it 4-3 Bandits. Brooks scored on the powerplay 7:53 as forward Nicholas DeGraves cleaned up a net front scramble to increase the lead to 5-3. Forward Noah Hackett (Niagara) put the finishing touch on the game with 65 seconds remaining, firing in a left circle shot to make it 6-3, the final. Shots in the 3rd were 21-6 Brook and 56-26 overall.

 

 

Brooks is off Saturday, hosting the Calgary Canucks on Sunday, January 16 at 4:00 pm at the CRA.