By Cassandra Federico, Special to the Times Review
The Revelstoke Grizzlies hosted back-to-back games this past weekend, but couldn’t pull off a win on their home ice.
On Friday night, Revelstoke played host to the Osoyoos Coyotes, falling 7-1 to the league leaders.
“The effort just wasn’t there,” said Grizzly coach Ryan Parent of the Friday night game.
Osoyoos opened the scoring with a power play goal from Rainer Gimpel at 8:47 of the first period. At 5:30, Roary Neary of the Coyotes added a second goal to the scoreboard to give his team a two goal lead heading into the second period.
Revelstoke had a tough second period as Osoyoos scored four consecutive goals before the Grizzlies finally made it on to the board with a power play goal at 49.7, scored by Steven Fiust, assisted by Riley Creighton, and Tristan Simm. Osoyoos then responded by scoring their seventh goal of the game with only a fraction of a second left in the second period.
The Grizzlies battled hard in the third period in front of an excited home crowd. They managed to keep the Coyotes off the scoreboard, leaving the final score 7-1.
On Saturday night, the Grizzlies took on the 100 Mile House Wranglers. After a back-and-forth game, Revelstoke fell short, losing 3-2 to their division rivals.
100 Mile House scored the first goal of the game at 6:05 of the first period. They then came out strong in the second period and scored their second goal at 15:11. Revelstoke had many chances in both periods but couldn’t capitalize on any, leaving the score 2-0 for 100 Mile House going into the third period.
Revelstoke started the third period strong with a power play goal from Steven Fiust, assisted by the team’s newest addition, Colton Sandboe, at 18:57. Then at 11:57, Josh Pilon capitalized on a power play, evening the score with assists from Kenny Batke and Ullar Wiatzka.
The Wranglers responded with a third goal from Colton Zimmerman, on a power play, at 7:33. Despite their best efforts, Revelstoke couldn’t even the score again, and lost 3-2.
Coach Parent was much happier with the team`s play on Saturday night. He praised the team`s effort, and teamwork. “They played with much more depth,” he said.
The Revelstoke Grizzlies will be travelling to Chase for an intra-division match against the Heat on Friday, November 14. This is their only game this weekend, but the following weekend they will be travelling to North Okanagan on Friday November 21, to take on the North Okanagan Knights. They will be back at home the next night, Saturday November 22, when they will be facing off against the 100 Mile House Wranglers once again.
