The Alberni Valley Bulldogs dropped a 2-1 decision to open the Coastal Conference Finals Saturday night in Surrey.
The Eagles jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the late stages of the opening period. The two goal outburst came right on the heels of Massimo Fazio crashing the crashing and jamming away at Callum Tung not once, but twice. Tung was clearly shaken up and so were the Bulldogs after officials Cody Hall and Eric Ruschin ruled there was no infraction on the play. With the Bulldogs stunned, the Eagles took full advantage.
After the Eagles outshot the Bulldogs 13-4 in the 1st period, the Bulldogs took over the game outshooting Surrey 24-12 the rest of the game.
Still trailing 2-0, the Bulldogs pulled Tung while on the power play and Grayson Badger finally broke through making it 2-1 at 17:34 of the 3rd. Despite some good looks, and some goal mouth scrambles, the Bulldogs couldn’t find the equalizer.
Tung finished the night with 23 saves and most importantly was fine after the incident with Fazio late in the 1st. BCHL goalie of the year Ajeet Gundarah stopped 27 of 28 and was named the games 1st Star.
The Bulldogs were 1 for 3 with the man-advantage, while the Eagles were 0 for 1. The Eagles did strike during some 4-on-4 action, something they did with great success against the Victoria Grizzlies in round 2.
Despite trailing 1-0 in the series, the Bulldogs have plenty to feel good about and will look to get themselves even in the series tonight in Game 2. Puck drop is set for 6:30 pm. The scene will shift back to Port Alberni for Game 3 and 4 on Wednesday and Thursday night’s respectively. Tickets can be purchased at the box office or by CLICKING HERE.
