OLDS, AB (November 8, 2016) – Jacob Kamps (Pickering, ON) scored his first two goals as a Brooks Bandit, as the first-place team in the AJHL South downed the Olds Grizzlys by a 3-2 final score in Olds on Tuesday night.
Kamps’ first goal came 7:21 into the game when a Nic Hamre (Ottawa, ON) shot produced a rebound at the top of the crease that Kamps hammered home for his first in a Bandit uniform, and a 1-0 lead that held after the Bandits outshot Olds 16-5 in the opening period.
But Olds had a much stronger start to the second, tied the Bandits in shots 13-13, and scored the only goal of the period on a Ryley Smith slap shot from the right circle just 2:03 in.
But the Bandits pulled away in the third, beginning with Kamps’ second goal 5:12 into the period, coming from a turnover forced down low by teammates Nathan Plessis (Salmon Arm, B.C.) and Hamre, who recorded his second assist of the night on the goal.
Then at the 8:45 mark on the power play, a Josh McKechney (Calgary, AB) centering pass from the right corner found Cale Makar (Calgary, AB) in the slot, and his quick wrist shot beat goalie Ben Giesbrecht to give Brooks a more comfortable 3-1 advantage.
That advantage proved key, as Ryley Smith beat Bandits goalie Alex Horawski (Toronto, ON) on a shot from the high slot to pull Olds within 1 with 1:57 left in the game. But Horawski then made a sprawling pad stop on a point blank James Gaume backdoor try with less than a minute to go, as the Bandits held on for the win.
Brooks remains in first in the AJHL South, tied in points with the Calgary Canucks but with two games in hand. Their next matchup is on the road on Friday night when they take on the Canmore Eagles at 7:00 PM.