The North Vancouver Wolf Pack couldn’t find their footing Saturday night at Centennial Arena, falling 9–3 to the White Rock Whalers in a game that got away early and never came back within reach. Despite goals from Gus Tucker, Lucas Davidson, and Lucas Aragon, defensive lapses and penalty trouble left the Pack chasing the play for most of the night.
The Whalers set the tone right away, scoring less than two minutes in when Richard Wonyeneh converted on a power play. White Rock doubled their lead midway through the first on a goal by Devon Atwal, and just over two minutes later, Atwal struck again to make it 3–0. North Vancouver finally broke through at 6:42 when Tucker finished off a feed from Mack Souter and Brandon Leung, giving the Pack some life. Moments later, Davidson buried one unassisted to bring North Van within a goal after a wild, high-scoring opening period.
The Wolf Pack entered the second down 3–2 and looking to build on that momentum, but the Whalers struck quickly again. Keenan Connor scored shorthanded just 53 seconds into the frame to make it 4–2, a gut punch for North Van’s power play unit. White Rock kept pressing and added another before the intermission, restoring their three-goal cushion heading into the third.
Lucas Aragon gave the Pack a brief spark late in the second when he finished a setup from Souter and Leung, cutting the deficit to 5–3. But that would be the last time North Vancouver found the back of the net.
The third period was all White Rock, as the home side piled on four more goals to pull away. Dylan Heer and Aiden McGregor-Bennett scored early, Graeme Sarte added a shorthanded marker late, and Wonyeneh capped the night with his second of the game in the final minute. By the final horn, the Whalers had taken 9–3 control of the scoreboard — and most of the puck battles along the way.
Special teams told much of the story: White Rock went 2-for-3 on the power play, while North Vancouver couldn’t convert on seven opportunities of their own. Goaltenders Christian Hahn and Marcus Taylor combined for a busy night in the Wolf Pack crease, facing relentless pressure from a Whalers offence that seemed to generate chances at will.
For the Pack, it was a sobering reminder of how quickly games can unravel in the PJHL when execution slips. The top line produced flashes of offense, and Souter continued to create opportunities, but turnovers and penalties proved too costly. North Vancouver will look to tighten up defensively in game two of the home-at-home series, and look for revenge tomorrow afternoon back in The Den.
