Oliers find offence in game three but not enough to get past Vees

OKOTOKS, AB (April 8, 2025) – The Okotoks Oilers found the back of the Vees net for the first time in the 2025 Rogers BCHL Playoffs, but it wasn’t enough to get past Penticton as they fell 6-3 at Viking Rentals Centre on Tuesday night (April 8).

With the loss, the Oilers now find themselves behind the eight-ball as they trail the Vees 3-0 in the first round best of seven series.

Olivier Ciarlo (Laval, QB) has given the Oilers a chance every night in the series and, throughout the season, made his third straight start for the Oilers in their first-round series. Ciarlo made a series of highlight saves in game three, making 31 saves in the contest. Ciarlo faced 17 shots alone in the third period.

Max Heise who played a total of five games for the Okotoks Oilers back during the 2022-2023 season opened the scoring 3:52 into the first period. Heise finished the night with three points. Louie Wehmann picked up his first goal of the postseason just over a minute later to give the Vees a 2-0 lead.

Penticton would cash in on two power-play goals in the second period with Heise assisting on Caton Ryan’s goal which marked the third unanswered goal from the Vees. Switzerland’s own Simon Meier collected the second power-play goal of the period for his third goal of the series just under three and a half minutes later.

Oiler captain Jackson Rowland (Calgary, AB) stopped the bleeding as the Oilers finally solved the Vees and Will Ingemann at 16:40 into the second period for the Green and Gold’s first goal of the series. Rowlands linemates, Hunter Sawka (Cochrane, AB), and Brock Souch (Edmonton, AB) picked up assists on the goal for their first points in the series.

Rowland’s goal fired up the Oilers as Michael Kowalski (Chicago, IL) added his first of the BCHL playoff under a minute and a half later. Kade Duell (Taber, AB) who lead the Oilers in goals and points during the regular season picked up his first point of the postseason on Kowalski’s marker.

Neither team would find the back of the net in the third until Luke Posthumus added his third goal of the series on the power play with Heise grabbing his third point of the night with just over four minutes left in the game.

Kowalski and the Oilers wouldn’t mail it in as Kowalski picked up his second goal of the game 15 seconds after the Vees made it a 5-2 hockey game. Souch would grab his second point of the night with the primary assist and Ryder de Nys (Canmore, AB) picked up his first point of the postseason with the secondary helper.

The Oilers down by two goals would pull Ciarlo for the extra attacker but the Vees cemented the game with Matthew Biotti icing it down the ice for an empty net goal to give the Vees a 6-3 lead late in the game.

Okotoks will meet Penticton Wednesday for game four. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. MDT at Viking Rentals Centre.