Copperheads drop game to Sylvan and come out on top against Rocky

Posted on January 18, 2024 by Sunny South News

By Garrett Simmons
Sunny South News

It was another 1-1 weekend for the Coaldale Copperheads, as the team fights to keep pace in a tough South Division.

On Saturday, Coaldale fell 6-2 to the Sylvan Lake Wranglers, despite the fact Copperheads actually opened the scoring. Kobe Fujita put Coaldale up 1-0 with a goal set up by Riley Preachuk, only 3:25 into the contest.

The lead held until late in the first, when Sylvan scored twice in the last five minutes. A powerplay goal by the Wranglers with 35 seconds left on the clock put Sylvan up 2-1.

The Wranglers led 4-1 late into the second period before a Rylan Bruns powerplay goal, assisted by Bill Houenagnon, gave Coaldale some life.

But two more Wranglers goals in the third quickly ended those comeback hopes.

In the end, Sylvan outshot Coaldale 40-29 and went 3/7 on the powerplay. The Copperheads only had two man-advantages situations and capitalized on one.

Kaiden Fulton took the loss in net for Coaldale.

Sunday was a different story as Coaldale rolled to a 5-2 victory over the Rocky Rams.

Once again, the Copperheads struck first, this time on a Koden Lazar goal, assisted by Drew Constant and Adam Kennedy.

Kennedy scored in the first to give Coaldale a 2-0 lead. The Rams made it 201 before Caden Heins restored the two-goal lead, as Constant and Griffin McCulloch had the assists. Brinley Degenstein made it 4-1 on a setup from Heins, before Rocky closed the gap to 4-2 with a goal later in the frame.

Constant continued his big game with a goal in the third, set up by Lazar, to cap off the scoring in a game that saw the Rams outshoot the Copperheads 27-24.

Despite the small disadvantage in shots, Coaldale’s special teams won the day, as the penalty kill went 4-4 and the Copperheads powerplay was ½.

Nixon Ordway took the win in goal with 25 stops.

This weekend, Coaldale will host Okotoks in an 8 p.m. game on Saturday. The Copperheads hit the road Sunday for a 4:30 p.m. game against the Strathmore Wheatland Kings.

Coaldale holds down third place in the South with 41 points and a 20-8-1 record. Medicine Hat sits in second with 43 points and Okotoks leads the way with 50 points.