Kings 4 Voyageurs 1
LAC LA BICHE — RDC Kings head coach Trevor Keeper had a good idea following their 5-3 win over the Portage Voyageurs Friday how to stop the Voyageurs.
But just to make sure he watched the game video late Friday and put together a game plan that worked to perfection Saturday as the Kings rolled to a 4-1 victory in Alberta Colleges Men’s Hockey League action.
“They put all their offensive players on one line and we adjusted our forecheck against them Friday and carried it over to Saturday,” explained Keeper. “When we had a chance we put pressure on their defence and were aggressive, but when they were able to grab the puck we dropped back and played a trap and it paid off.”
The Kings also knew what to expect with the Voyageurs power play and were able to kill off all five penalties.
“They like bringing in their top scorer in the back door and we were able to shut that down and as a result shut their power play down.”
As it was the Voyageurs grabbed a 1-0 lead at 6:20 of the first period when Cory Giroux beat RDC netminder Kraymer Barnstable. However, Doug Jones notched his seventh goal of the season to tie the game at 7:38 and Jared Ramstead potted what proved to be the winner at 9:03.
Jeff Archibald scored at 8:54 of the second period and Riley Simpson completed the scoring at 13:21 of the third period with his eighth on the power play. Simpson also added two assists and was named the Kings player of the game while DJay McGrath also picked up two helpers.
Barnstable finished with 21 saves while his teammates had 34 shots on Kirby Halcrow.
The Kings complete their pre-Christmas schedule this week with a home-and-home series against the University of Alberta Augustana Vikings. The team meet Friday in Camrose and Saturday at 7:15 p.m. in Penhold.
“Camrose is on a bit of a roll and will be a big test for us,” said Keeper. “They’re very strong in goal and we’ll have to make sure we get in close and convert on rebounds and set screens.”
Curling
CAMROSE — The RDC women’s team posted a 2-2 record in the first ACAC curling bonspiel of the season.
The RDC team of Kaitlyn Sherrer, Julie Primrose, Courtney Smith, Jessica Newman and Taylor Eno defeated Portage and Grande Prairie while losing to Augustana and Olds.
The RDC men’s team of Ryan Dahmer, Jeff Ireland, Logan Oddie and Sean Carley were 0-4, losing to Augustana, Portage, Olds and Grande Prairie. The next competition is in Edmonton in February. The top four teams in each division advance to the ACAC finals.
l In other news, the Olds Broncos took both ends of a twin bill against Concordia in women’s volleyball league play, winning 3-1 and 3-0.
The Olds men lost 3-0 and 3-2 to Concordia.
In basketball action, the Olds women lost 77-31 to Lakeland and 67-64 to Keyano while the men lost 92-88 to Olds and 87-66 to Keyano.
drode@www.reddeeradvocate.com