The Brandon Wheat Kings scored five unanswered goals en route to a 5-1 win to draw first blood in their Winnipeg Hockey League U15 AAA best-of-five championship clash against the Eastman Selects at J&G Homes Arena late Tuesday.

Eastman’s Nixon Gaudet opened the scoring just over 10 minutes into the contest after splitting Brandon’s defensive pairing of Jace Woloski and Ayden Mott at the blue-line and then burying one on goaltender Aurick Veldhuisen, but it was all Wheat Kings after that.

Forward Graycen Van Meijl tied the game at ones with two minutes to go in the opening frame, before Jordan Lang, Sully Taylor, and Daniel Flett-Neapew all found twine in the second to put the Wheaties up 4-1 after 40.

With less than four minutes to go, Woloski collected the lone tally in the third to put the cherry on top of a stellar Game 1 win.

IN LOCAL HISTORY

• 40 YEARS AGO — Lyndon Johnston of Hamiota and Denise Benning of Ontario had a fifth-place finish at the world figure skating championships in Geneva.

• 30 YEARS AGO — Derek Shamray scored two goals to lead the Blanchard Bobcats to a 7-4 triumph over the Miniota Night Hawks in a North Central Hockey League playoff game. Neil Gillies, B.J. Birch, Jeff Hume, Dean McBride and Gord Paddock added singles.

• 20 YEARS AGO — The Glenboro Panthers varsity girls basketball team won its third straight provincial A basketball championship with a 54-41 win over the Strathclair Skyhawks in Elm Creek. Michelle Huber was named tournament MVP and scored 24 points for the Panthers who also placed Grade 11 forward Dayna Prost on the all-star team.

Brandon’s Reid Nicol tallied a power-play goal with less than four minutes remaining in the third overtime period to salvage a Game 4 win for the Wheat Kings in their Manitoba U18 AAA Hockey League best-of-five semifinal matchup against the Winnipeg Bruins at J&G Homes Arena late Monday and clinch them a berth into the championship.

Wild forward Max George opened the scoring 34 seconds into the game on the man advantage, before Nicol and Kevin Knee responded in the second frame with goals 3:15 apart to give the Wheat Kings a 2-1 lead after 40.

Cole Dupuis added an insurance marker for Brandon on the power play 8:29 into the third frame and then with just over six minutes remaining, Mark Munday snuck one home to bring Winnipeg back into the game, before Jaxon Dean pulled the puck out of a crowd near the hashmarks and ripped a seeing-eye shot to tie the game with six seconds left on the clock.

Wheat Kings netminder Urijah Moosetail collected 50 saves in the victory, while Ardan Downey turned aside 69 shots for the Wild.

IN LOCAL HISTORY

• 40 YEARS AGO — The Cartwright Clippers edged the Souris Elks 5-3 in a South West Hockey League semifinal game. Boyd Mullin scored two goals for the Clippers while Daryle Lamb, Tim Morrison and Rob Maxwell chipped in with singles.

• 30 YEARS AGO — Derek Tibbatts led the barrage with four goals as the Foxwarren Falcons pounded the Boissevain Border Kings 14-1 in South West Hockey League playoff action. Brian Lee, Blair Lee and Jason Smith each added two goals for the Falcons.

• 20 YEARS AGO — T.J. Warkentin scored twice to lead the Dauphin Kings to a 4-2 win over the OCN Blizzard in Game 1 of the best-of-seven Manitoba Junior Hockey League Sher-Wood division final. Warkentin added an assist as the Kings won their fifth straight of the playoffs. Lem Randall and Matt Summers had OCN’s goals.

Oren Gouldie topped 18 other competitors in the co-ed A/B singles event at the Brandon Blasters Open racquetball tournament at the Sportsplex from Friday to Sunday.

Jialin Li finished second, with Aaron Hall winning the consolation final.

In the nine-team co-ed open doubles, Gouldie and Luke Godfrey topped Halin and Jialin Li in the final, with Aaron and Patrick Hall winning the consolation final.

In the 13-player junior A singles event, Gabriel Chiupka beat Gavin Paschinski in the final, with Colm Smith taking the consolation title.

IN LOCAL HISTORY

• 40 YEARS AGO — Randy Markewich scored twice to lead the Spectrum Sportsmen to an 8-4 victory over Boissevain Border Kings. Paul Murray, Gord Kaluzniak, Brad Schoonbaert, Brad Burton, Warren Murray and Ken Schneider added singles.

• 30 YEARS AGO — Jerry Hemmings coached the Brandon University Bobcats men’s basketball team to its forth national championship, defeating the University of Alberta Golden Bears in the final.

• 20 YEARS AGO — Lloyd McKinney scored five goals and added two assists to lead the Roblin North Stars on an 11-2 romp over the Minnedosa Bombers in the deciding game of their NorthCentral Hockey League semifinal.

BOYS

One series is over and another is heading to Game 4 in the Manitoba U18 AAA Hockey League semifinals.

BRANDON (3) vs. WPG WILD (3)

Brandon leads the series 2-1 after losing on Saturday.

Colin Melnyk, Brayden Watt, William Marvin, Ty Aldcroft, and Ashton Shields all found the back of the net as the Brandon Wheat Kings blasted the Winnipeg Bruins 5-1 in Game 4 of their Winnipeg Hockey League U17 AAA semifinal matchup at J&G Homes Arena late Friday to advance to the championship.

Joel Vermette scored the lone goal for Winnipeg, who trailed 2-0 after the first period and 2-1 after 40.

Wheat Kings netminder Carter Krahn stopped 26 shots in the win, while Sawyer Henkelman made 36 saves in the Bruins’ loss.

Brandon will now play the Eastman Selects in the final and will head to Beausejour Sportsplex for Game 1 on Tuesday and Game 2 on Thursday.

IN LOCAL HISTORY

• 40 YEARS AGO — Shawn Berry scored twice to give Spectrum a 5-2 win over Curly’s and a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five Inter-City Hockey League final. Larry Brooks, Mark Johnson and Grant Slessor rounded out the Spectrum scoring.

• 30 YEARS AGO — Neil Gillies, B.J. Birch, Brad Pilling, Jeff Hume and Gord Paddock scored for the Blanchard Bobcats in a 5-1 triumph over the Miniota Nighthawks in a North Central Hockey League playoff game.

• 20 YEARS AGO — The Brandon Wheat Kings dropped a 7-3 decision to the Winnipeg Thrashers during Manitoba AAA Midget Hockey League action at the Sportsplex.

The Brandon Wheat Kings are one win away from advancing to the final.

The Wheat Kings grabbed a 2-0 series lead in their Manitoba U18 AAA Hockey League best-of-five semifinal matchup against the Winnipeg Wild with a 3-1 victory at J&G Homes Arena late Thursday.

Forward Jaxson Brick opened the scoring seven minutes 39 seconds into the first period for the Wheat Kings, while Hudson Champagne added another in the second and Matthew Dupuis added the empty netter late in the third to seal the Wild’s fate in Game 2. Ryan Strilchuk scored the lone goal for Winnipeg.

Urijah Moosetail rattled off his third consecutive victory between the pipes for Brandon, making 26 saves and Ardan Downey recorded 43 saves in the loss.

IN LOCAL HISTORY

• 40 YEARS AGO — Ken Hall’s goal with four minutes left in overtime stood as the winner as the Souris Elks downed the Ste. Rose Royals 9-7 to win a South West Hockey League quarter-final series. Jim Teetaert and William Dooley led the Elks with two goals

• 30 YEARS AGO — Shane Reese scored two goals to pace the Grandview Comets to a 7-6 victory over the Swan Valley Axemen in North Central Hockey League playoff action. Dave Pulock, Jeff Doroschuck, Ken Donaldson, Cory Nybo and Ryan Scott scored the other goals for the Comets.

• 20 YEARS AGO — Brandon’s Joey Moggach had a goal and an assist to help the Dauphin Kings eliminate the Portage Terriers. Moggach was the league’s leading scorer with 117 points this season. The Kings blanked the Terriers 3-0 behind a 21-save shutout effort from Notre Dame native Marc Lesage to complete the comeback from a 2-0 series deficit with four straight victories in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s best-of-seven Sherwood Division semifinals.