WALPOLE – The reigning New England Pro-Am Pre-Draft Showcase champion Canada West Red got their title defense back on track Saturday morning. After dropping their tournament opener, West Red came up with a big second half to score their first win of the 2015 tournament, 8-2, over EHG Orange at Rodman Arena.
EHG struck first, taking a quick 1-0 lead on a goal by Brad Viola just 31-seconds after the opening face off, but Canada West settled in after the dicey start. They did trail for much of the first half, but a pair of strikes late in the frame – the first by Jacob Switzer at 23:46, then Nicholas Vlahos at 24:46 – gave them a 2-1 lead heading into the break.
With a fresh sheet of ice underneath them, West turned it on in the second half, scoring more goals than they had all tournament. Six times they lit the lamp in the final 25-minutes against EHG, getting a pair from Vlahos to complete his hat trick, as well as a pair from Marcus Russell and one each from Switzer and Vinny Gimond.
Switzer’s four points – two goals, two assists – led all scorers in the contest, while Francis Marrotte was credited with the win in net for Canada West.
