The Eagles have had the last three weeks off from play and were looking forward to finally playing a game on Friday night. The Rocky Rams were invited to play a home-and-home series after they were done playoffs to help the Eagles stay prepared for provincials.
The Eagles were eager to hit the ice on Friday. The first period had the Eagles draw first blood early. Kent Wing scored his first goal as an Eagle at 13:15 with help from Joey Keys and Scott Murphy. The Eagles scored four more times in the first period to take a commanding 5-0 lead. Clark Lowry had two goals; Drew Coles and Ryan Kallis each had singles. Dave Waiting, Scott Kallis and Josh McIlravey were each given assists. Eagles netminder Wade Waters stopped all 10 of the shots he faced. The Rams’ goalkeeper, Nathan Turner faced 21 shots in the first, stopping 16.
The second period was slightly more evenly matched as Coach Kyle Haviland switched up all of the line combinations he had originally set at the beginning of the game. Murphy and Wing each netted singles in the second to give the Eagles an early 7-0 lead. Carl Bjorge, Keys and Coles each received assists.
Late in the period the Rams started to come on a little stronger. Morgan King scored the Rams’ first goal of the game with help from Mark Morrish. Mike McAdam scored the final goal of the period for the Rams with an assist to Jordan Breland. Waters stopped six of the eight shots he faced for the Eagles while Turner stopped 10 of the 12 he faced for the Rams.
The third period was all Eagles again. Wing scored early at 19:35 for his hat trick with help from Ian Brander. At 13:49 the Rams netted their third and final goal of the game. The Rams goal was awarded to Morrish and assists to Trevor Belder and Mitch Morrish.
The Rams’ short bench was showing signs of wear and tear midway through the period. Daryl Blais netted the Eagles’ ninth goal at 13:25 off a feed from Lowry. Brett Sparks scored his first of the game at 11:19 from Scott Kallis. Keys netted the team’s eleventh at 6:01 with assists going to Lowry and Bjorge. Daral Northcott scored the final goal of the game with 57 seconds remaining in the period with assists to McIlravey and Wing. Waters made nine saves while Turner made 15. The Eagles were excited about their 12-3 victory.
These two teams will go at it again this weekend out in Rocky on Saturday night. Hopefully the Rams are able to have a full bench on Saturday night. If the Rams can put together a full roster on Saturday night it should make for a more exciting hockey game. The game Saturday goes at 8:30 p.m. in Rocky.
