Coaldale Copperheads have bite this season

Posted on October 22, 2014 by Sunny South News

The Coaldale Copperheads have been busy setting goals and rising to the top of the league.

This past weekend, with two separate long road trips and putting  in 100 per cent as a whole, the team secured four points — placing them in first place in the south HJHL. The games were not easy — it was back and forth and very competitive junior hockey.

This past Saturday night the team played Strathmore winning 5-3 with the deciding outcome not until the final minutes of play.

Colby Murray and Connor Gross each put up one goal/two assists and single goals came from Craig Lyon, Austin Huculack and Ty Mackenzie.

Sharing the goaltender duties were MacCaulay Carefoot at the start of the game and Dillan Kelly taking over to finish the game.

This past Sunday, the team travelled to face the Blackfalds Wranglers, a team whose stats prove they are a top of the league every year. Alex Barthel set the pace, as he slid the first goal in against the Wranglers. It was a nail-biter type of game, as both teams were solid and full of talent. The final score after regulation play was 5-5 leading the team into overtime.

Other goals came from Levi Baker, James Price and two from Connor Gross, who showed great leadership this past weekend.

With five minutes of overtime play the score was still 5-5 and the team went into a shoot out. Three shooters a side missed and it was Milk River rookie Calvin Swanson for the Copperheads scoring the winning goal with a final score of 6-5. Coaldale native Dillan Kelly played a strong game for the Snakes in net.

Next action for the team is this coming weekend on Friday, when the team travels to Okotoks — a team three points behind the Copperheads in standings. Saturday night, it’s back to the Snake Pit for home action against the Red Deer Vipers at 8:30 p.m.