The Rockets have been very busy since the exciting victory on home ice against 100 Mile House nearly two weeks ago. No less than four key road games have been played in the interim. After victories over Creston and Fernie, the local stars journeyed to the West Kootenay for the first time this season, and came away with a split in their two games.
Friday,Nov.4th, 2022 Rockets 4 Beaver Valley 1
Rockets on the road once more, this time in Fruitvale to tangle with the NiteHawks.
Shots were square at 11-11 in the opening frame, with plenty of end-to-end action, keeping both netminders busy. Rockets took a pair of penalties early, and successfully held the opposition scoreless. In fact, the lone goal came at the 11:27 mark, when the Rockets, again playing shorthanded, hit the mark as smooth-skating forward Levi Lamotte found the range.
Golden expanded the margin to 3-0 after forty minutes. At 4:53, Captain Jordan Lario struck for his 14th of the season. That goal was followed just after the midway mark with Evan Tsadilas completing a play neatly setup by Gavin Kennedy and Jeff Mamuad. Golden held a wide shot-advantage in the period.
Beaver Valley came out for the final period looking to get back into the contest, as they applied good pressure in the early going. However, it was Golden which stretched their lead to 4-0, with Kade Cochlan’s unassisted effort just three minutes into the frame.
The NiteHawks managed a single reply, with a Jeremy Hanson power play goal at 10:22, as the Rockets cruised to an well-earned 4-1 win.
Saturday, Nov.5th, 2022 Grand Forks 4 Rockets 1
Before a crowd of nearly 500 at the Jack Goddard Memorial Arena in Grand Forks, the two Kootenay Conference divisional leaders met head-on in a fast, entertaining affair.
This contest was fairly even for the entire sixty minutes, with quick, sharp passing and good defensive work at both ends of the ice. Things did get a bit heated midway through the second period, but the clubs settled down into a strong tempo.
Grand Forks opened the scoring in the first, at 10:01 with Chad Bates connecting on the powerplay. The teams traded markers in the middle stanza, with Jordan Lario hitting for the Rockets at 4:26 to tie the game at 1-1. That held until the Border Bruins regained the lead at 11:25 with yet another powerplay goal, this time off the stick of Russell Kosec.
Grand Forks added a pair of goals in the third period (one into the empty-net) to claim a 4-1 win.
Next home games for our Kicking Horse stars will be this Thursday, November 10th when Creston is in town, and then Saturday, November 12th for an exciting rematch against the visiting Grand Forks Border Bruins.
