WOODLIFFE POWERS STEAM TRAIN PAST DYNAMITERS

Cole Woodliffe, Cole Williams, Michael McEachern and
Rylan Sideroff celebrate with Braden Eliuk after his goal gave
the Summerland Steam a 2-1 lead vs the Kimberly Dynamiters
on Sunday, November 16 at Summerland Arena
Photo Credit: Sarah Mayer

The Summerland Steam had to wait until Sunday to play their only game of the week, but made sure they stayed fresh and ready for a team from Kimberly who were playing 3 games in 3 nights on a long road trip. After a loss on Friday in Kelowna (4-2) and a loss in Princeton on Saturday (6-3), the Dynamiters were hungry for a couple of points coming into Summerland on Sunday evening.

The Steam, however, weren't going to go quietly. Playing without captain Paulsen Lautard, who has moved on to play with the Trail Smoke Eaters of the BCHL, the Steam had a hill to climb. They started early, taking it to the Dynamiters early in the hockey game and forcing Nitros starter Liam McBain to make some early saves.

GAME RECAP

Although Summerland controlled the play in the first period it was the Dynamiters' captain, Jason Richter, who opened the scoring on the powerplay. After Riley Pettitt took a hooking minor, the Kimberly captain was able to walk straight down the middle and rifle a shot over the right shoulder of Steam goaltender Spencer Huff, who was making his first start since joining the Steam on November 13th.

It gave the Nitros a 1-0 lead, but that didn't last long, as Marco Campanella would take a penalty for cross checking and Summerland would cash in. Off a won faceoff the Steam controlled the puck and moved it around the zone until a screen formed in front of McBain. Rylan Sideroff would then blast his 4th of the season past the sea of red, white and black in front of the Nitros net to tie the game at 1. Cole Woodliffe and Braden Eliuk would draw assists on the powerplay marker, and they weren't done there.

Woodliffe and Eliuk would connect again just over 3 minutes later as Eliuk took a pass from Woodliffe on an abbreviated 2-on-1 and ripped a wrister low to the blocker side to give the Steam a 2-1 lead.

As quickly as Summerland erased Kimberly's first lead of the night, the Dynamiters would do the same. Richter was once again able to take a pass while cruising through the middle of the ice and was allowed to rip a shot up and over Huff to tie the game at 2.

Cole Woodliffe would then collect his first of two goals on the game, and third point of the first period, after taking a 'home-run' pass from Michael McEachern and potting a puck through the five-hole of Liam McBain to restore the Steam lead near the end of the 1st period.

In the second only one goal was scored, the second of the night from Woodliffe. The goal came off a good rush from Coleton Fisher that saw a hard shot from the right wing come off the left post and back out through McBain's legs for Woodliffe to bang home for his 11th of the season and 4th point of the night. Although the Steam scored the only goal of the 2nd period, Kimberly controlled the majority of the play, outshooting the Steam 11-6.

In the third it was much of the same, Kimberly came out looking to start a comeback from a 4-2 deficit, and after 13 minutes of more or less straight pressure, they finally beat Spencer Huff. After a shot came in from the point, Penticton native Eric Buckley found a rebound at the side of the net and lifted it up and over a sprawling Huff to cut the lead to 1 with just over 6 minutes remaining in the 3rd period.

For the Dynamiters though, this is where the comeback bid would end. The Steam were able to shut them down and keep them to the outside for the remainder of the period, and with the goaltender pulled for Kimberly, Cole Williams was able to fight his way out of the Summerland defensive zone and find the heart of the empty net to restore the 2 goal lead for Summerland.

The Steam would add one more for good measure on the powerplay with just 1 second left in the game as Jarrett Malchow collected his first KIJHL goal off a tip of a Nelson Hurry shot as time expired. We weren't sure if it was going to count at first, but after some deliberation they put it on the board with 1 second remaining to round the score out at 6-3.

WHAT'S NEXT?

Summerland will get a full week of practice this week before taking on the Creston Valley Thunder Cats on Friday night, November 21st, at 7:30. You can catch a preview either Wednesday or Thursday here on the blog, and you can catch us on the KIJHL webcast at www.kijhl.ca around 7:15 for our pre-game show prior to puck drop!