SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. – Minnesota Wilderness (SIJHL) captain Mike Dietrich had a goal and three assists, earning player of the game laurels in the process, to help lead his side to a 5-3 victory over the Truro Bearcats (MHL) in day four action at the RBC Cup Canadian national junior A championship in Summerside, P.E.I.
With the victory the Wilderness improved to 1-2 while Truro fell to 0-3.
SIJHL Champs win one
Dietrich, the Superior International Junior Hockey League player of the year and playoff MVP, got the Wilderness on the board 3:43 after the opening face-off as he intercepted a pass while his club was shorthanded and dashed down the ice lifting an attempt over the pad of Truro starter Shayne Campbell.
However just 34 seconds later the Bearcats connected on the power play as Zack Evans-Reynaud’s wrist shot from the left point beat Gordy Defiel to tie things up.
Dietrich picked up his second point of the opening stanza as he darted around the net, but not before dropping a nifty pass to Mike MacKinnon who backhanded a quick shot low into the far side to put the SIJHL and Dudley-Hewitt Cup champs up 2-1 after 20 minutes.
The Bearcats turned to netminder Jacob Fancy to begin the middle session, but Minnesota went up a pair courtesy of Nick Szopinski only to see Travis Moore pull Truro back to within one just 33 seconds later.
The Bearcats then tied it late in the session as Grant West wired one top shelf over Defiel to level the proceedings after two periods of play.
In the final frame Dietrich tacked on another his third point teeing up Jake Larson, who blasted the go ahead tally burying his 50th overall goal of the campaign, including regular season, playoff and Dudley-Hewit Cup play, during a two-man advantage
He then finished off his four-point performance by assisting on a Jeremy Johnson empty het effort in the late going to round the scoring.
Shots on goal ended up 23 apiece in the contest.
The Wilderness will wrap-up their portion of round robin play Wednesday afternoon at 3 p.m. AT as they take on the 2-0 Surrey Eagles (BCHL).
2013 Royal Bank Cup
May 11-19 @ Summerside, P.E.I.
Competing teams
Host: Summerside Western Capitals (MHL)
Eastern: Truro Bearcats (MHL)
Central: Minnesota Wilderness (SIJHL)
Western 1: Surrey Eagles (BCHL)
Western 2: Brooks Bandits (AJHL)
RBC Standings after game 6
TEAM LEAGUE GP W L PTS GF GA
Brooks* AJHL 2 2 0 4 13 4
Surrey* BCHL 2 2 0 4 12 4
Summerside MHL 2 1 1 2 9 6
Minnesota SIJHL 3 1 2 2 9 14
Truro MHL 3 0 3 0 4 19
*-Guaranteed semifinal berth
Schedule
(All start times Atlantic Standard Time)
Saturday, May 11
Brooks 7 Truro 1
Summerside 5 Minnesota 1
Sunday, May 12
Surrey 7 Truro 0
Brooks 4 Minnesota 2
Monday, May 13
Surrey 5 Summerside 4 (OT)
Tuesday, May 14
Minnesota 5 Minnesota 3
Brooks vs. Summerside 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, May 15
Minnesota vs. Surrey 3 p.m.
Thursday, May 16
Surrey vs. Brooks 3 p.m.
Summerside vs. Truro 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 18
*Semifinal No. 1 – 2 p.m.
*Semifinal No. 2 – 6 p.m.
Sunday, May 19
RBC Championship Game – Time T.B.A.
*-1st place team play chooses semifinal time slot.
