Coaldale teams compete in CAHL championship series

Posted on March 14, 2024 by Sunny South News

By Garrett Simmons
Sunny South News

Local teams have wrapped up a busy season in the Central Alberta Hockey League.

The Coaldale-White U11 Tier 5 team advanced all the way to the league championship series against Kainai.

In game one, Kainai skated to a tight 7-6 win. Asher Skretting led Coaldale with two goals and two assists, while Leiv Odenbach had a goal and an assist. Greyson Weiss and Jackson Dubnyk also had goals, while Kade Paladino earned an assist. Colton Selk was in goal.

Game two was on Sunday back in Coaldale, as Kainai earned the league championship with a 6-4 victory on the road.

Coaldale’s U11 Ter 1 team also advanced to the league final, which was played March 1 and March 2 against Lethbridge. Coaldale won game one 7-5 but dropped game two 7-2, as the city squad earned the championship in the two-game, total-point series.

In U13 play, Coaldale’s Tier 4 team dropped the league final to Vulcan, also over the March 2 weekend. Vulcan won game one by a score of 3-2 and took game two 6-2.

Coaldale’s U15 team was in the Tier 3 championship this weekend and ultimately fell to Taber, after a 6-2 loss in Coaldale on Friday and a 3-3 draw in Taber on Saturday.

Game one was up for grabs early, however, as Caleb Burton scored an unassisted goal early in the second to tie the game at one.

Taber scored back-to-back goals in the second and took a 3-1 lead, before Aiden Pierzchala made it 3-2 before the period was up, on a goal assisted by Burton and Tucker Newberry.

That was as close as Coaldale would get, as Taber scored three times in the final frame to put the contest out of reach.

In game two, Burton gave his team some life with a goal in the first period, as Coaldale skated into the first intermission with a 1-0 lead.

Taber scored twice in the second to go up 2-1, before Burton scored a shorthanded goal to tie things up. Cole Antosko drew the helper on the goal.

Willian Thompson scored late in the second to give Coaldale a 3-2 lead, as Kaiden Kado and Payden Whipple had the assists.

Taber tied things up with a goal in the third, as Coaldale could not muster enough offence to come back in the two-game, total-point series.