The Nelson Junior Leafs topped the Spokane Braves 4-1 Sunday afternoon at the Eagles Ice-A-Rena in Spokane.
Leafs’ forward Bryce Nielsen opened the scoring seven minutes into the game to give the visiting Nelson squad a 1-0 lead. Two minutes later Justin Loepker tied the score when he solved Nelson starter Cody Boeckman.
With just over ten minutes gone in the opening period, Leafs’ defenceman Blake Arcuri scored his first goal of the season to restore the Nelson lead. One minute after that, Matthew Naka continued his hot streak with a marker to increase the margin to 3-1.
The first period saw each side fire plenty of shots on goal with Nelson tossing 17 at Spokane’s Matt Zenzola and Boeckman turning away 15.
Despite several chances for both sides in the middle frame, the score remained 3-1 after 40 minutes of play.
In the third period the Braves pushed to get back into the contest, but it was the Leafs who scored the only goal of the stanza with Linden Horswill scoring a shorthanded goal to add the insurance.
The Leafs swept the three-star selection with Arcuri being named first star, followed by Nielsen and Boeckman.
With two wins over the weekend, the Leafs now sit tied in top spot in the Neil Murdoch Division with the Castlegar Rebels.