With the Vancouver Island Hockey League schedule well underway, the Jiffy Lube Bantam AAA Chiefs have had a strong start to the first half of their season.
This past weekend, the Comox Valley Minor Hockey rep team went undefeated during three league games.
Friday night the team travelled to Nanaimo and took command of the game right from the puck drop. The offensive line of Matteo Giomo, Reid Wheeldon and Dayton Keith were involved in every one of the Chiefs' eight unanswered goals. Giomo and Keith racked up a hat trick each and Wheeldon picked up one goal and four assists, while Matt Edgar cashed in on the scoring spree with an unassisted goal. Wilson Beebe earned the shutout.
Home games on Saturday and Sunday continued the winning streak.
Saturday’s game against Saanich was close right to the end buzzer. Nathan Doleman opened the scoring in the first period with assists from Hayden Leach and Kaleb Peldjak. Doleman tucked another one in during the second. Wheeldon contributed two goals and Giomo added one more to the Chiefs total. Ice clean had the Chiefs up 5-2.
Saanich got back into the game with two goals in the third period causing the Chiefs to pull together to protect the win. Defencemen Logan Cursley, Ryan Beauchamp, Noah Gauthier-Gregory, Alex Wilford and Ben Arksey, along with Matt Henwood in net, held off the late game charge for the 5-4 win.
Sunday had the Chiefs face Port Alberni and the team looking to go 3-for-3 for the weekend and gain valuable points in league standings.
Caleb Dolman, with assists by Kane O’Brian and Arksey, got the Chiefs started. Doleman added two more goals, one in the second and one in the third. Peldjak had another strong game and tallied a goal and an assist. Adding to their weekend point totals were Matteo Giomo with his second hat trick and an assist, Reid Wheeldon with two assists and Dayton Keith with another goal. Final score was 8-3 in a six-point weekend for the Chiefs, who take a solid 4-1-1 record into the second half of the season.
– Jiffy Lube Chiefs