The Fernie Ghostriders had two major back-to-back wins at home games over the weekend, with a handful of players scoring their very first goals.
The team won 9-1 against Quesnel River Rush and Williams Lake Mustangs in two consecutive games Oct. 25 and 26, keeping tight control of the net. Sawyer Samycia, Stephen Jones and Lucas Desjarlais scored their very first goals against Qusnel, and Liam Breckenridge netted his first puck against Williams Lake.
"Liam Breckenridge had been snake bitten for weeks on end. He was getting frustrated," said assistant coach Dante Raposo.
"He got two on one on a short-handed chance and ended up burying it. Even though it was the ninth goal in a 9-1 game, I think that's the most excited I've seen this group in the last two months I've been here, so that's amazing," he added.
Raposo worked with the boys over the weekend, while head coach Chad Scharff was away coaching in Alberta at the U16 WHL Cup.
In a particularly intense moment in the game, Coden Fournier tripped a Quesnel player who crashed into his own net, right as Taylor Haggerty scored a goal. After reviewing the play the referee allowed the goal, which was a surprise to the team.
Ghostriders are currently ranked fourth within their division, behind Kimberley Dynamiters, Columbia Valley Rockies and Creston Valley Thundercats. Ghostriders will face the Cats in Creston for their next game on Nov. 1.
"I think we're starting to trend in the right direction. Obviously, we got off to a little bit of a slow start, but that's kind of expected with big changeover and both new coaches, a bunch of new places," said Raposo.
"We're hoping to continue and keep on moving up. We won the division last year, so we'd love to repeat that and give ourselves home-ice advantage throughout much of the playoffs," he added.
The games coincided with Parent's Week, so the stadiums were packed. Raposo estimates more than 500 fans came out to watch the action.
"There were probably 50 parents in the crowd wearing their kid's jerseys. It's always nice to put out a good product for the parents to see where their money and all their kid's hard work is going to," he said.
Raposo said he's working with the team to keep their games consistent.
"We want to be able to play the same way throughout the entire season," he explained. "We're trying to have the guys play together and be simple, not try to do too much, almost let the game come to us and let the other team make the mistakes and we'll capitalize on those."
