Although the lengthy three-game road trip into Central BC last weekend did not go quite as planned, the Rockets did manage to salvage a solid win in the final contest against the Doug Birks Divisional squads.
After a long and winding highway brought the KickingHorse stars to Quesnel for the opening game Friday evening, one could point to the proverbial “bus legs” as a contributing factor in the River Rush’s 12-2 lopsided victory. But simply put, the local club just wasn’t mentally ready for this game, falling behind early and couldn’t recover.
Quesnel moved out in front 3-1 after twenty minutes, a lead they doubled to 6-2 after a penalty-filled second period. Six unanswered goals in the final frame salted away the win. Golden’s Hayden Iron Shirt was the lone bright spot for the club with a pair of assists on the night on goals from Brett Krawchuk and Justin Mol. Lyndon Gorman was the big gun for the River Rush with four goals, while ex-Rocket Deegan Bert pitched in with three assists.
Saturday night, the club travelled south to Williams Lake to tangle with the Mustangs. After a shaky opening period where they fell behind 3-0, a vastly improved on-ice showing in the final two periods got Golden back in the contest, before they fell by a score of 5-3.
Kiernan Patterson, Brayden Bissell and Chaz Jaeb each hit for tallies for the Rockets. The third period was marred by a rash of fighting, majors and misconduct. Williams Lake outshot Golden 44-25.
The final contest of the weekend saw the team head into 100 Mile House looking to get back into the win column. The first twenty minutes went scoreless before Cooper Thompson got the Rockets on the scoreboard at 5:53 of the second period, finishing off a quick play from Brayden Bissell and Maddox DePasquale.
In the final stanza, the Wranglers briefly tied things early, before Brandon Spilchen restored the one-goal margin at 6:59 on a setup from Brayden Bissell.
With time winding down, Jackson Gair sent a perfect feed to Cooper Thompson, who added an empty-netter in the final minute to secure a 3-1 Golden victory.
The Sunday win placed the Rockets in a three-way tie for first place in the Eddie Mountain Division with Kimberley and Creston, each with eight points. Golden has just a single road contest this weekend, when they will match skills with the Fernie Ghostriders in the southern centre.
