Ryan MacPherson named FortisBC 1st Star of the Month
BCHL- Penticton Vees forward Ryan MacPherson, Surrey Eagles goaltender Ajeet Gundarah and Langley Rivermen forward Vitaly Levyy have been named the FortisBC 3 Stars of the Month for September.
1st Star – Ryan MacPherson (F) – Penticton Vees
MacPherson is off to a hot start in his BCHL career, leading the league in scoring through the first two weeks of play with seven points in four games. His five goals are also tops in the league.
The Philadelphia Flyers draft pick was held off the scoresheet in his first game of the year, but has been on a tear ever since. He had a hat trick and a four-point night in his second game in a 6-0 win over the Merritt Centennials and most recently notched a pair of goals in a 3-2 shootout loss to the Powell River Kings last Saturday.
A lot of MacPherson’s damage has been done on special teams, with two of his goals coming on the power play and another while shorthanded.
2nd Star – Ajeet Gundarah (G) – Surrey Eagles
Gundarah won all three of his starts in September, posting a .954 save percentage and a 1.67 goals-against average after stopping 103 of the 108 shots he faced.
In his first game with the Eagles after being acquired from the Langley Rivermen in the offseason, the 20-year-old stopped 35 of 37 shots to earn a 4-2 win over the Victoria Grizzlies in his team’s season-opener. The next night, he stopped 39 of 40 in a 4-1 road win over the Coquitlam Express, then made 29 saves on 31 shots on Sept. 29 to close out the month with a 3-2 win against Langley.
His .954 save percentage was the second-highest in the league during the month among goaltenders with at least two games played, and his 1.67 goals-against was also second best.
3rd Star – Vitaly Levyy (F) – Langley Rivermen
Levyy was the BCHL’s second-leading scorer in September, finishing the month with six points on three goals and three assists in four games.
The third-year Rivermen forward started his season with a bang, contributing a pair of goals and an assist in Langley’s 5-4 season-opening loss to the Chilliwack Chiefs. He followed that up with another multi-point outing and was named the 1st Star of the Week after the first weekend of play.
Levyy had at least a point in three of four games to start the season.
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Honourable mentions:
Penticton Vees G Will Ingemann: 2GP – 1W – .955 SV% – 0.923 GAA
Alberni Valley Bulldogs G Callum Tung: 3GP – 2W – .941 SV% – 2.01 GAA
Vernon Vipers F Julian Facchinelli: 3GP – 2G – 3A – 5PTS
Powell River Kings F Noah Eyre: 3GP – 2G – 3A – 5PTS
Powell River Kings F Anthony Yu: 3GP – 1G – 4A – 5PTS
Chilliwack Chiefs F Nico Grabas: 4GP – 3G – 2A – 5PTS
Chilliwack Chiefs D Brian Morse: 4GP – 1G – 4A – 5PTS
Salmon Arm Silverbacks D Tristan Allen: 4GP – 5A – 5PTS