Well it was a tough weekend for the Spokane Braves.
Last Friday, Nov. 20 in front of their home crowd they got shut down by the Castlegar Rebels 5-0. The following day inCastlegar the Rebels pummelled the Braves goalie with 59 shots of which five hit their mark.
Spokane did put up a fight but only had a paltry 27 shots on goal in comparison.
The Braves did manage to score three goals, two on power plays and had tied up the game in the first two minutes of the thethird period. But strong teamwork by the Castlegar Rebels resulted in two more goals before the game was over. The finalscore was 5-3.
The game started with a lot of aggressive physical play by the Rebels, but the Braves were first on the scoreboard at thehalfway mark of the first period. The Rebels tied it up with 4:18 left in the period with a goal by Morgan Scriber assisted byTyler Barrett and Darren Medeiros.
The Rebels dominated the play in the second period scoring 40 seconds in, with a goal by Tayden Woods assisted by NickHeadrick. Headrick scored with 10:42 left, assisted by Dallas Goodwin and Anthony Oliverio. Then the Spokane Braves MasonJones scored with just under two minutes left in the second period.
However even with the Braves giving it all in the third period and with their effective power play, they were unable to containthe Rebels. LJ Naccarato scored assisted by Barrett and Medeiros with 10:41 on the clock. Mike Bhatoa put the nail in thecoffin for the Braves with the Rebels final goal at 3:20 remaining, assisted by Tayden Woods and Vince Bitonti.
The star for the Castlegar Rebels was Headrick who had a great second period with an assist and a goal. He demonstrated hisremarkable ability to literally skate circles around the opposing team. Speaking modestly after the game, the Prince George-raised defenceman was reserved about his talents.
“Its going well. I try to get in the rush; help out as much as I can. I thought it was a pretty good game all around. Could havebeen a bigger score than it was. We got the win and that is all that matters,” he said.
The Rebels are holding steady in the standings in second place in the Neil Murdoch Division of the KIJHL only three pointsbehind Beaver Valley. The Rebels next home game is Friday Nov. 27 against the Grand Forks Border Bruins. Puck drop is 7p.m. at the Complex Arena.