Fernie Ghostriders have played three games in the past few weeks, netting their first win of the season against the Beaver Valley Nitehawks on Oct. 5.
Riders met with the Hawks in Fruitvale in a close game that went neck-and-neck until the final minutes of play.
Keegan Fellows made the Rider's first goal half-way through the third period tying the score 1-1, but Hawk Ollie Clement sent a puck into the net with a little over one minute left, pushing the opposing team ahead by one point.
Penalties late in the game cleared the ice of players, leaving space for Rider Eric Martin to net another goal with only 25 second left on the clock and push the game into overtime. Taylor Haggerty delivered the final goal of the night, unassisted, leading to a 3-2 win for the Riders.
"We are thrilled with the win and commitment of the players sticking with it," said coach Chad Scharff. "Our third period is exactly how we expect to play as a group. There is work to do and we will take the two points and go back to work this week. It was nice to get in the win column.”
The Riders had slow start early in the season, losing 5-4 in a shootout at the season opener against the Kimberley Dynamiters on Sept. 27 and suffering a second defeat 6-4 at a home game against the 100 Mile House Wranglers the following day. Riders brought the heat in the final period of both games, with opposing teams overtaking them by a narrow margin.
Kimberley was a close game, with Malachai North Peigan and Riley Enns scoring two goals in the final period pushing the game into overtime. Peigan completed a full run down the ice, skirting Dynamiter defence to score the team's third goal of the evening, but this was not enough to push the team ahead.
Riders were down zero to three early in the game, but managed to make a comeback later, and outshot the Wranglers in both second and third periods. Riders scored a goal late in the third period that would have tied the game at five points, but it was disallowed by the goal judge. Scharff remarked that he hadn't seen a disallowed goal in 15 years, and that the decision surprised even the referees.
Riders are playing two games on Thanksgiving weekend in Creston Valley at the Jonny Bucyk Arena on Oct. 11 and a home game against Spokane on Oct. 12 at 7 p.m.
