A good weekend for the Golden Rockets as they got busy with a three-game, southern-swing road trip, coming away with four hard-earned points in the standings.
Friday, January 28th, 2022 Fernie 4 Rockets 1
Friday night in Fernie, the club was looking to avenge a 4-1 loss to the Ghostriders just two weeks ago but, as the final horn sounded, history had repeated itself as Fernie came out on top by the identical score.
The first period went scoreless in this one, before the Riders opened up a 2-0 lead after forty minutes.
Rocket’s Jordan Lario closed the gap to 2-1 early in the final period, but a Fernie powerplay goal, and an empty-netter in the final minute sealed the deal.
Shots were even at 38-38 in the contest. Despite the loss, Colton Day played a strong game in goal for the Rockets.
Saturday, January 29th, 2022 Rockets 6 Creston 4
The scene switched to the Johnny Bucyk Arena in Creston on Saturday, where Golden was perhaps seeking some revenge. The ThunderCats had taken all six previous meetings between the two clubs thus far this season, and the Rockets were looking to change that scenario.
Will Vernon was the big gun in this contest for the Rockets, collecting a pair of goals, along with two assists.
Creston opened the scoring just 1:32 after the opening face-off, but it was the Rockets holding a 2-1 lead at the end of the period, on the strength of a couple of slick goals by Kade Cochlan and Will Vernon.
The clubs were deadlocked at 3-3 after forty minutes. Creston took a brief lead with two goals early in the middle frame, and were looking to extend that lead at 8:29 with a Denon Bamber penalty shot. But Rockets netminder Levi Hall came up huge, robbing the Creston sniper from close range. At 12:32 Golden tied things up at 3-3 when sturdy rearguard Ethan Aebly shot found the mark.
In the third period, Rockets were firing on all cylinders coming out of the dressing room, and quickly took a 5-3 lead with a pair of goals in just :12 seconds. Will Vernon and Andrew Teare hit for Golden. Creston got one back a couple of minutes later, but Henry Loewen’s tenth of the season on the power play sealed the victory for the Rockets at 6-4.
Sunday, January 30th, 2022 Rockets 4 Beaver Valley 3
It was a brief celebration after the Rockets win over the ThunderCats, as the club journeyed over the Salmo-Creston skyway for a date with the NiteHawks Sunday afternoon. The two teams have split a pair of games this season, and this contest would be the decider for the season series.
And, as it unfolded, the afternoon in Beaver Valley would become the Levi Hall show. The Rockets netminder was nothing short of spectacular in the game, turning aside 55 of 58 shots which came his way.
The Rockets were met with a solid wall of defence from the NiteHawks but, despite only being able to generate 15 shots on net, struck with sharp accuracy when an opening appeared.
The teams were tied at 1-1 after twenty minutes, with Jesse Ihas and Connor Funke (powerplay) trading goals. Golden moved into a solid 3-1 lead after forty minutes, when Will Vernon and Henry Loewen each hit the back of the net in quick succession.
In the final frame, the NiteHawks threw everything they had at Hall in the Golden cage, but the talented Rocket goalie held his own.
Will Vernon (on fire all weekend) ran the score to 4-1 for Golden at 4:15, a deficit which Beaver Valley couldn’t recover before the final horn sounded. Final score was 4-3 for Golden.
Rockets will look to keep their solid play strong, as they will be busy starting next weekend with four games in five days, beginning with Columbia Valley Feb.4th at home.
