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Rockies playing hard in round two but trail Riders
By Stephanie Stevens
Nobody’s giving anything away, but hesitation has taken its toll.
The second round of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League’s Eddie Mountain Division playoffs has seen both the Columbia Valley Rockies and the Fernie Ghostriders leaving it all on the ice despite the first game going to the Riders in their home barn.
The first two games of the round were played March 8 and 9 in Fernie, with game one going to the Riders 6-2 and the Rockies finding their stride in the second game, taking it 4-1.
In the March 8 opener Kaelan Shelton opened up the scoring unassisted in the first, followed by Teo Fath (assist from Carter Velker).
The March 9 tilt saw goals from Fath in the second (assists from Kyran Gromnisky and Oleg Bitus) and the third featured Bryan Kim (assist from Kobe Mason), Bitus unassisted and Mason with an empty netter for good measure.
Game three was played at home in the Eddie Mountain Memorial Arena and while the play was intense, the Riders took it 2-1 in overtime.
“Games one and three we played like a team afraid to make mistakes,” said head coach Tayler Sincennes. “In game two we just went out and played with confidence. We’ll have to find a way to do that for the rest of the series.”
Scoring in game three didn’t open up until the third period, with Grominsky teaming up with Fath and Bitus again for the lone Columbia Valley goal.
“We’ve had some ups and down, playing against some injuries and suspensions,” said associate coach Tucker Braund. “But we have a good chance. We can make it a heck of a series.”
Game four is tonight, March 12, in The Eddie and game five will be in Fernie March 14.
If the series goes right to seven games, Saturday will see the Riders back in the Eddie and Monday will be played out in Fernie.
Lead image: Kyran Gromnisky takes a draw against Fernie. Stephanie Stevens photos
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