Saturday, November 27th, 2021 Columbia Valley 4 Rockets 1
Chapter Two in the 2021-22 KIJHL Golden-Invermere rivalry saw the Rockets journey to the Eddie Mountain Memorial Arena to tangle with the first-place Columbia Valley Rockies.
Earlier in the season (on Oct.5th), Golden prevailed on home-ice with a 4-2 win and were looking to duplicate that feat on the road.
Backed by the sensational netminding of Michael O’Sullivan, the Rockets struck first in the game with the only goal of the opening period. That came at 17:32, when Derek Teare collected his fourth goal of the year on the powerplay, with helpers going to Alexander Johnson and Jordan Lario.
That lead held until 13:31 of the middle stanza when Columbia Valley replied with the man-advantage. After forty minutes of play the score was deadlocked at 1-1, much to the magic of O’Sullivan in the Golden cage. To this point in the contest, the Rockets were outshot 34-11, which was indicative of the territorial play.
In the final frame, Columbia Valley’s pressure connected to take a one-goal lead, then completed the victory with a pair of markers (one into the empty net) before the horn sounded the end of regulation.
Final score was 4-1. Final shot counts were 53-22 for Invermere.
Rockets will be looking to rebound back into the win column with a road game next Friday in Fruitvale against Beaver Valley. Then they will return home on Saturday to take on the Kimberley Dynamiters.
