Rainer Glimpel broke in to score the winning goal in the Osoyoos Coyotes’ 5-4 victory over the Kelowna Chiefs in a game back in late September at the Sun Bowl Arena. The Coyotes and Chiefs played this past weekend in Kelowna with the Chiefs coming out on top 2-0. The Chiefs and Coyotes meet again this Friday night in Osoyoos. (Richard McGuire file photo)
The Osoyoos Coyotes skated away a 4-1 victory in Princeton on Friday night before being shut out 2-0 in Kelowna on Saturday.
The league-leading Coyotes are two thirds of the way through a three-game road tour with a second game in Princeton scheduled for this Wednesday at noon.
The Coyotes still lead the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL) with 26 wins, six losses and one overtime loss for a total of 53 points. That keeps them ahead of the second place Fernie Ghostriders, who have 49 points, but three games in hand.
The Coyotes are far ahead in the Okanagan Division with the second-place Summerland Steam far back with 41 points.
The Coyotes have not lost two games in a row all season heading into Wednesday’s game against Princeton.
In Friday’s game against the Princeton Posse, Colten Braid picked up two goals for the Coyotes. The first was an unassisted goal in the second period that tied the game at 1-1 after Princeton got the only goal in the first period.
Braid’s second goal was in the third period on a power play, assisted by Darryl Senholt.
The other two third-period Coyotes’ goals were scored by Blake Holowaty from Brett Anderson and by Ryan Roseboom from Jackson DeMatos on a power play.
Brett Soles, once again in the net for the Coyotes, put in a solid performance fending off 28 of the Posse’s 29 shots on goal. The Posse outshot the Coyotes in both of the first two periods.
The Kelowna game on Saturday saw both teams take a number of penalties, including three head contact penalties with associated 10-minute misconducts – two by Kelowna and one by Osoyoos.
The Chiefs capitalized on Coyotes’ penalties, scoring the only two goals of the game on power plays in the second period.
Their first goal was scored by Josh Kobelka when DeMatos was off for slashing early in the second period. Late in the second period, DeMatos took another slashing penalty, allowing Carter Melnyk to make it 2-0 for Kelowna.
The first and second periods were both scoreless, reflecting strong goaltending by both Chris Turner of the Chiefs, who was named first star for his shutout, and by Soles, who was named as the game’s second star.
Following this Wednesday’s return to Princeton, the Coyotes next play the Chiefs again on Friday at the Sun Bowl Arena starting at 7:35 p.m.
That is the last game before the Christmas break. The season resumes on Saturday, Dec. 27 when the Coyotes host the Summerland Steam at the Sun Bowl Arena and play again in Summerland the following night.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
