This past Sunday, the Ghostriders challenged Spokane’s Braves in a fiery match that ended with a final score of 4-3 in overtime; a thrilling end to a three win weekend and an ongoing seven win streak.
After an 8-2 victory against Sicamous on Friday, and a 4-1 win against Revelstoke on Saturday, the Riders showed no sign of stopping.
“I really liked our team’s resiliency tonight,” said head coach Jeff Wagner. “This was our third game in three nights, and after a really emotional win in Revelstoke last night, we came out flat. I kind of expected that, but we found a way to battle back and ultimately get the win tonight, so that was great to see.”
The game started with the Braves scoring two goals in the first period. Though the Riders were off to a slow start, they steadily built up momentum, holding the score throughout the second period. It wasn’t until the third that the Ghostriders began to show up with heavy hands, as Aiden Gleisner scored the team’s first goal of the night.
From there the stoke grew, leading Seamus Keith and Johnny Elias to score the team’s second and third goals.
“I liked how all the lines reset,” said assistant coach Tal Klaudt. “We looked at positives rather than focusing on negatives. The response was good from every single player.”
The Braves managed to squeeze in one more goal before the buzzer sounded, tying the score at three for all.
In an electric overtime, Alaister Standen scored the team’s winning goal, bringing every fan in the stands to their feet, cheering and banging on the bleachers.
“He’s a guy who does all the right things, all the time,” remarked Wagner. Klaudt too applauded Standen, the game’s Home Star. “He was motoring all game… he worked for every inch that he had, and that was just the defining moment when he scored the goal”.
The game wrapped with the Ghostriders attempting 43 shots, and the Braves 39. Coach Wagner praised goalie Ethan Fitzgerald.
“He’s been on fire lately…he backstopped us best as he could tonight. We were pretty sloppy in front of him, so he was there to close the goal when he could”.
After a wild weekend of puck drops and shredding ice, the team is taking a few days off to recharge.
“We’ll regroup on Tuesday, start going back to the basics, implementing some flow and structure to prepare for our game next week,” said Klaudt.
The Ghostriders play their next game on home ice, Friday January 17 at 7:30 p.m.
With the boys riding their longest winning streak of the season, it’s a game sure to get the crowd going once again.
editor@thefreepress.ca
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