In spite of two late goals and a heartfelt effort, the Columbia Valley Rockies couldn’t catch up to the Creston Valley Thunder Cats last weekend.

The Thunder Cats won 3-2 against the Rockies at the Eddie Mountain Memorial Arena on Friday, February 26th.

“Quite a few things,” replied Rockies’ head coach Wade Dubielewicz when asked what the Junior B team needed to do to pull it together. “We’ve got to figure out a way to get in their zone with some speed and, in zone, be able to get pucks in the net with some traffic.”

The Thunder Cats opened up with a power play goal from Grant Iles, who was assisted by Alec Wilkinson, during the first period which put the team into an away game lead.

During the second, Colby Sherlock scored a goal for the Rockies with assists from Ty Duncan and Davin Burton. However, Nicholas Kovacik promptly pushed the Thunder Cats back into a 2-1 lead when he scored a goal.

Jackson Bruce-Fuoco was unassisted in the third when he scored, bringing the Thunder Cats up to 3-1.

With less than three minutes left in the game, Rockies athlete Micheal Cardinal joined his teammates Nick Hoobanoff and Cole Richardson for a galvanizing goal and the home crowd went wild with support. Many fans tapped on the glass in approval with their hands and shouted words of encouragement, but the Rockies couldn’t tie up the game before it ended.

“We’re at the wrong end of a deep hole right now,” said Dubielewicz after Friday night’s game. “We’re going to have to figure out a way to climb out.”