Tuesday, Jan.24th, 2023 Columbia Valley 9 Rockets 2
The Rockets made the journey to the Eddie Mountain Memorial Arena in Invermere to tangle with the division-leading Rockies and, from the opening face-off to the final horn, the hosts were relentless in their offensive attack, rolling to a convincing win.
Columbia Valley drastically outshot Golden in all three periods of play, and Rockets netminder Matthew Kuhnlein was kept very busy. Despite the score, the talented goalkeeper came up with several sparkling saves throughout the game.
The Rockets Kylow Monkman opened the scoring at 3:15 of the first period, after some great work by Austin Angus and Aleksander Jirousek. But then Columbia Valley took over the contest in a big way, striking for no less than 7 goals in a row, before Austin Angus (Golden’s Star of the Game) tallied at 12:33 of the final period assisted by Brydon Foster. Invermere would later add another pair of goals before the end of regulation. Kaelan Shelton was the big gun for Invermere hitting for four goals.
Final score was 9-2. Columbia Valley outshot Golden 58-29. Rockets took 6 of the 9 minor penalties called by referee Nolan Varley.
Rockets will look to quickly rebound in a big way this weekend, as the club travels to the West Kootenay to take on the Nelson Leafs Friday, and the Castlegar Rebels Saturday.