The Fernie Ghostriders split their weekend games, shutting out the Columbia Valley Rockies on Friday, Dec. 1 and coming up just short against the Princeton Posse on Saturday.
Taylor Haggerty, Riley Enns and Ben Skarsen each contributed a goal to Friday’s 3-0 shut out over the Rockies, with Goaltender Aiden Kruhlak stopping all 32 shots Columbia Valley sent his way.
Haggerty also picked up an assist, bringing his points total to 33, putting him in a tie for fourth overall in the KIJHL rankings.
Saturday’s game could have gone either way. The number-one team in the Bill Ohlhausen Division by a whopping 20 points, Princeton has been on a hot streak, winning 11 straight games.
Princeton picked up the first goal of the game early in the first before Dayden Collier tied things up with his second of the season. The Posse would make a late charge in the first, retaking the lead with two more goals, including one a power-play goal with less than a minute remaining.
The back and forth continued in the second as Cole Fournier scored his fifth of the season, Princeton getting one back on the power play and then Kaden Slobodian snagging a late power play goal of his own. The second period was rife with penalties, six to Fernie and five to Princeton.
Slobodian would then tie things up five minutes into the third, but Princeton’s Tyson Horiachka would score the game winner at 12.26.
The Ghostriders have four more games before the break, returning for the annual Christmas Classic in Kimberley on Friday, Dec. 29 and at home on Saturday, Dec. 30.
Their next game is in Creston on Friday, Dec. 8, before they welcome the Spokane Braves on Saturday Dec. 9. They’ll also get a warm-up for the Christmas Classic, heading to Kimberley on Tuesday, Dec. 12.