Vanecek's late goal the difference as Americans down Cougars 4-3
Published on October 12, 2025 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Tri-City Americans News Release
Prince George, B.C. - Tri-City Americans (2-5-0-0) got a goal from Jakub Vanecek with 1:15 left in regulation, leading them to a 4-3 win over the Prince George Cougars (5-2-0-0) Sunday afternoon.
The Americans had a much better start to Sunday's game, generating a number of scoring chances inside the Cougars zone before Prince George received a power play halfway through the period.
On their first shot of the game, Kooper Gizowski hammered a one timer off the crossbar and in, opening the scoring for the Cougars against the flow of play.
The goal against didn't deter the Americans however, as they answered back immediately. Crew Martinson gathered the puck in the neutral zone and stepped around a Cougars defenseman to gain the line.
Martinson skated down the right wing and fired a snap shot on net, sneaking it under the blocker arm of Josh Ravensbergen for his first WHL goal, tying the game 90 seconds after the Cougars opened the scoring.
The first period ended with the teams tied at one and the Americans outshooting the Cougars 13-4.
Prince George began to push back in the middle frame, but not before the Americans took the lead. Savin Virk had the puck in the right circle of the Cougars zone. He held onto it waiting for the right play to develop before snapping a pass to the slot.
David Krcal jumped off the Americans bench and skated right to slot, taking the pass from Virk and deflecting the puck off the chest of Ravensbergen and in for his first WHL goal. That came just 1:43 into the period.
The Cougars started to come to life after that goal, quickly closing the shots on goal gap as they tried to tie the game. It remained 2-1 Americans until late in the period when a wild sequence ended with Tri-City jumping ahead 3-1.
The Cougars carried the puck into the Tri-City zone on a 3-on-1 rush and ended up hitting the post over the right shoulder of Wendt.
Tri-City then gathered the puck and started a 3-on-1 rush of their own, and Virk fed the puck to Cruz Pavao who fired a shot through the five hole of Ravensbergen, extending his goal scoring streak to three games. The goal came with 1:53 remaining in the period.
Prince George answered back very quickly as Carson Carels jumped on a loose puck in front of the net, sneaking it through the five hole of Wendt with under a minute to play to make it 3-2 Tri-City heading into the third period.
Early in the third the Cougars tied the game. Bauer Dumanski let a long shot go from the blue line that banged off the post and in, tying the game 3:20 into the final frame.
Prince George dominated play for the majority of the third period, heavily outshooting and out chancing Tri-City. Wendt kept the Americans in the game be denying the Cougars at every turn, eventually setting them up to win the game.
Off a faceoff in the Cougars zone, the Americans got control of the puck behind the Prince George net. Martinson worked it up to the left point for Dylan LeBret, and he slid it across for Vanecek who leaned into a one timer, blasting the puck through traffic and passed a screened Ravensbergen with 1:15 left in regulation.
Prince George pulled their goalie for the extra attacker but couldn't find the equalizer as the Americans held on for a 4-3 win.
Tri-City now returns home to host the Cougars at the Toyota Center on Saturday.
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