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Rockies look to stay on task against divisional rivals
By Stephanie Stevens
A runaway game may see like the stuff dreams are made of, but ultimately it can be the most challenging time to stay on task.
The Oct. 25 game against the Spokane Braves was just such a situation, with the Columbia Valley Rockies taking the game 10-1 at home in the Eddie Mountain Memorial Arena.
“With how the game Friday turned out, score-wise, you do have to push them to stay focused,” said head coach Tayler Sincennes. “We have to worry about the details of the way we want to play but not chase the offence. And I thought for the most part we did a good job of keeping our game on track.”
Associate coach Tucker Braund echoed Sincennes.
“It’s hard when you get up 5-0 in the first period to stay focused in the second and third periods, but we tell the guys stick to how we are playing because we are having success with that,” Braund said. “We can’t try to do something different or get selfish.”
First period goals were courtesy of Ashton Sledz (assists from Kobe Mason and Dylan Duzan), Sam Cristo (Johnny Lozeman and Carter Krause), Lozeman (unassisted), Ethan Cerone (Lozeman and Jack Hefferan) and Duzan (Sledz).
Second period saw Carter Velker (unassisted) and Peter Godley hit the mark, and third period scoring was by Jack Thorne (Velker), Lozeman (Ditzel) and Ditzel (Carter Hensch).
Goalie Jaiden Jakobowski stopped 24 of 25 shots on net.
Saturday against the Quesnel River Rush required a little more focus, but the Rockies pulled off a second weekend win (6-3) with a crowd full of the families and billet families of players.
“Saturday was a little bit more of a grind but I think that comes from (Quesnel) not being a great team and us winning 10-1 the night before,” said Sincennes, adding that combination can result in the players thinking it is going to be an easy win. “I thought in the second half of that game we took over and played really well though.”
Opening the scoreboard against The Rush on Saturday was Teo Fath (Carter Tuplin) in the first period, followed in the second period by Krause (Tuplin and Chance Cole), Godley (Bryan Kim and Velker) and Noah Admundson (Velker and Jaxson Sperling).
The third period saw Godley pot two empty net goals (unassisted, assists from Velker and Fath) to garner himself a hat trick.
Ryan Bain was between the pipes and stopped 24 of 27 shots on goal.
The final tally for shots on goal for the Rockies was 53.
“We played a pretty tight two periods with Quesnel and I think in the third our fitness level stood out,” said Braund. “It’s something we work really hard at all week in practice, making sure we are well conditioned and we just carried the play in the third. The shot totals for that period definitely showed we carried the play. Their goalie played well, but ultimately, we found a way to score on the powerplay and get the win.
“If we play as a team we will have success and that showed this weekend.”
The Rockies hosted the Kimberley Dynamiters on Tuesday and will be back in the Eddie again Friday, Nov. 1 with the Dynamiters. A weekend away game will see the hometown boys in Fernie squaring off with the Ghostriders Nov. 2.
Lead image: Rockies’ Peter Godley celebrates his third goal against Quesnel River Rush Oct. 26. Stephanie Stevens photos
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