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Two big wins keep Rockies rolling
By Stephanie Stevens
It was a four point, two hattrick, two big games kinda week for the Columbia Valley Rockies.
The Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL) team travelled to Fernie last Tuesday, Jan. 14 to take on the fellow Eddie Mountain Division (EMD) Ghostriders and came away with a win. The ‘Riders sit in second place in the EMD, with the Kimberley Dynamiters currently leading and the Rockies in third, only one point behind Fernie but with three more games under their belts.
“Tuesday in Fernie was a huge come from behind win for our guys,” said associate coach Tucker Braund. “We got down early and took some time to find our game, but then we scored six unanswered goals against a good team at their rink which has been historically tough on us.”
Scoring for the Rockies in the first were Noah Asmundson (assists from Carter Velker) and Jack Thorne (Trae Lees and Carter Krause). Second period goals were courtesy of Teo Fath (Jack Hefferan), Velker (Carter Hensch and Asmundson) and Bryan Kim (Peter Godley and Hefferan). Lukas Masters added an unassisted goal in the third for the 7-4 win.
Goaltender Ryan Bain stopped 31 of 35 shots on net.
Back at home in the Eddie Mountain Memorial Arena Friday, Jan. 17 the lads took on the Doug Birks Division leading 100 Mile House Wranglers and won the fast-paced, physical game.
“Saturday, we got down early against 100 Mile House, another good team leading their division, but we battled back and took the game over in the second and third,” said Braund. “It was a nice win in front of our home crowd, an exciting game with a lot of action.”
Godley (Wyatt Wurtz) potted the first goal of the game for his team, as well as the second (Wurtz and Kim), both in the first period. The second period saw Masters (Godley and Ethan Cerone) and Fath (Wurtz) both find the net.
The third period started out with Masters (Lees and Krause) again, then Godley unassisted for a hattrick, followed by Masters, also unassisted, for his own hattrick. Both were power play goals.
Asmundson (Velker) added one more to the tally and the game ended 8-3. Bain was once again between the pipes stopping 28 of 31 shots and proving himself to be a valuable asset to the team making some significant saves throughout the game.
“We are scoring a lot of goals right now and I believe that is because of our practices and some of the guys breaking slumps,” said Braund. “They have been really good with sticking through tough times individually and I think we are starting to click.
“We need to be a little bit more disciplined, for sure, and find a way to start on time and get the lead first but making big come-from-behind wins is always exciting to watch.”
The Rockies are away for their next three games, in Golden Jan. 21, Revelstoke Jan. 24 and Beaver Valley Jan. 31.
They are back in the Eddie versus the Creston Valley Thunder Cats Sat, Feb. 1.
Lead image: Ryan Bain makes a big save against 100 Mile House. Stephanie Stevens photos
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