Copperheads start December with pair of wins

Posted on December 7, 2023 by Sunny South News

By Garrett Simmons
Sunny South News

The Coaldale Copperheads are 2-0 in December after a weekend sweep.

Saturday at home, Coaldale picked up a 4-2 win over Okotoks, despite a strong start from the visitors. The Bisons got out to a 1-0 lead in the first period, before Nathan Verloop and Griffin McCulloch scored to put the Copperheads up 2-0 after 20. McCulloch added an assist on the Verloop goal, as Peyton Twigg, Brandon Creighton and Nolan Price had the other helpers.

Caden Heins made it 3-1 with a powerplay goal assisted by Verloop and Bill Hounengnon, as Coaldale led by two after 40.

An Okotoks powerplay goal in the third made it 3-2 but Price restored the two-goal lead later in the period, as Hounengnon and Brogan Booth drew assists.

Nixon Ordway made 33 saves for the win, as Okotoks held a 35-24 advantage on the shot clock. Okotoks went 1/6 on the powerplay and Coaldale was 1/5.

On Sunday, the Copperheads took care of business on the road in Cochrane with a 5-4 win.

Price scored the first goal of the game, assisted by Booth, as Coaldale jumped out to a 1-0 lead. But it was Cochrane that closed the first period with a 2-1 lead, as the Generals directed 15 first-period shots at the Coaldale goal.

Cochrane made it 3-1 with a powerplay marker to start the second period, before Heins made it 3-2 with a goal assisted by Kode Fujita and Adam Kennedy. McCulloch tied things up with an unassisted goal but with 15 seconds left in the middle frame, the Generals scored again with the man advantage to make it 4-3.

But it was all Coaldale in the third, as Heins tied the game, set up by McCulloch and Sean Burns, before Verloop scored the winner off a Hounengnon feed.

Kaden Fulton made 33 saves for the win in a game where the visitors were outshot by a 37-33 count.

The team now prepares for another two-game weekend, which starts Saturday at home with an 8 p.m. game against Airdrie. Sunday features a trip to Strathmore.

Coaldale holds down third place in the South Division with 33 points, thanks to a 16-4-1 record.