A good, solid team effort at both ends of the ice for the Rockets, as they hit the road last weekend for matchups with North Okanagan and Summerland. The pair of victories moved the club into third place in the Eddie Mountain Division, in the young KIJHL season.
Friday, Sept.30th, 2022 Rockets 6 North Okanagan 1
Needed just a little while to work out the ‘bus legs’ in this one as the team was in Armstrong, but when they hit their stride, the Rockets never looked back. The team scoring was nicely spread throughout the lineup, with no less than five Rockets hitting for their first goals of the season.
Golden held a 1-0 lead at the end of twenty minutes, controlling much of the play, nearly doubling the shots on goal at 14-8. The only goal of the period came off the stick of Kade Cochlan.
The Rockets opened up a big 4-0 lead in the middle frame. Captain Jordan Lario skated miles, and led the way with no less than two shorthanded goals (one early in the period, then again late in the stanza), with an Ethan Aebly marker sandwiched between at the midway mark.
That margin extended even wider at 6-0 in the third period, with Brydon Foster and Derek Teare hitting the scoresheet before the Knights managed to tuck one powerplay goal past Levi Hall with just :43 seconds left in regulation. Final score was 6-1. Golden outshot North Okanagan 34-29.
Saturday, October 1st, 2022 Rockets 4 Summerland 3
Saturday night in Summerland against the Steam proved to be a solid lesson in teamwork, and a tangible example of hardwork paying dividends.
The two clubs were evenly-matched throughout the contest. In the first period, the lone goal went to the Steam (on the powerplay), as Golden were playing two-men short after a pair of minor penalties in quick succession.
Five minutes into the middle frame, Summerland extended the lead to 2-0, with Golden again at a two-man disadvantage. That lead moved to 3-0 by the end of the forty minutes, as the hosts again found the back of the net. The Rockets went into the dressing room a bit disappointed, but looking to regroup quickly for a strong third period. And regroup they did!
Coming out of the dressing room the Rockets dominated the final twenty minutes, and came storming back with good, sustained offensive pressure (combined with a strong defensive game). The hard work paid off midway through the period, when the local stars combined for three goals in exactly two minutes. Jordan Lario hit the twine at 8:17 with yet another shorthanded effort (this is fast becoming Jordan’s trademark), Liam Furlong’s powerplay marker at 9:43 was quickly followed by Lario’s second of the game at 10:17 to deadlock the game at 3-3.
The 5-minute OT solved nothing, and the teams went into the shootout. Nick Morin and Jordan Lario each connected in the final session while Summerland could only get a singleton by Carson Cairns in the Golden cage.
Final score was 4-3 for the Rockets. Shots were fairly even at 25-23 in favour of Golden.
