Rockies return with a vengeance, defeat Ghostriders 6-2 to tie playoff series

The Columbia Valley Rockies tied up the playoff series against the Ghostriders after they defeated Fernie 6-2 in game four of the series.

The game took place at the Fernie Memorial Arena on Saturday (Feb. 26) following a game the previous night which saw the Ghostriders take the series lead in a victory 4-3 over the Rockies. After Saturday’s game, the series was tied 2-2.

The first period of Saturday’s game saw an early goal from Columbia Valley at 2:17 minutes against Dylan Lacroix (#31). The visiting team put up two more goals before the period was through, one at 11:56, and another not three minutes later at 14:41. The period concluded with Fernie finding themselves in a 0-3 hole. There were four penalties in the period, two for the Ghostriders and two for the Rockies.

The second period started off on the right note for the Ghostriders, with a power play goal from Scott Sinclair (#4), assisted by Ethan MacDuff (#18) at 39 seconds in.

About seven minutes of play passed before the Rockies took a power play goal of their own at 7:15 minutes. That was followed by another goal less than three minutes later for the Rockies at 10:00, again a power play goal.

Ghostrider goalie Thomson Casey (#1) replaced Lacroix in net at 14:42, after two successive penalties against Fernie, one for Cole Fisher (#20), and another for Jock Michael (#13). The crowd expressed dismay and anger at the referees penalty calls against the Ghostriders.

The Rockies capitalized once again on their power play, putting the puck past Casey at 15:39, securing a heavy 6-1 lead.

There were 10 penalties total in the second period, four for the Rockies and six for the Ghostriders.

The third period saw an early goal from MacDuff at 1:23 minutes, assisted by Matthew Schulmeister (#27) and Dayton Nelson (#15), but that was the last goal of the game for either team.

The rest of the third period saw heavy penalties for both teams. The Rockies took seven penalties and the Ghostriders took eight, for a total of 15 penalties through the period.

The final shot-on-goal count was 36 for Fernie and 47 for Columbia Valley.

The two teams will meet at the Eddie Mountain Memorial Arena in Invermere on Feb. 28 for game five, and will return to the Fernie Memorial Arena on March 1 for game six.

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