PHOTO : Rookie Brett Radford scored his first ever Junior A goal in overtime to help the Eagles defeat the Calgary Mustangs 3-2 on Saturday night. (photo courtesy of Julie Wilson)
Rookie Brett Radford scored his first-ever Junior A goal at the 1.09 mark of sudden-death overtime to give the Canmore Eagles a 3-2 victory over the visiting Calgary Mustangs in an Alberta Junior Hockey League game played Saturday night at the Canmore Recreation Centre.
It was the Eagles third straight victory over the Mustangs this year and improves the Eagles record to 6-7.
For the Eagles, Bryan Arneson scored on a second period penalty shot for his fourth of the year, while Simon Philp (4th) scored with just under three remaining in regulation to force the overtime. Jordan Revie had a two-assist night for the Eagles.
Goaltender Cameron Barnes picked up the win for Canmore to improve his record to 3-4. Canmore outshot the Mustangs by a 39-36 margin.
The victory did have a downside however as Eagles leading scorer Luke Simpson left the game towards the end of the second period with a possible dislocated elbow injury. Simpson currently leads the team in scoring with 8 goals and four assists.
“Luke was playing extremely well for us and will certainly be missed,” said Eagles Head Coach and General Manager Andrew Milne. “But I was proud of the way the team fought back against the Mustangs and never gave up. These injuries give the younger players a chance to step up and gain some valuable playing minutes. It was good to see Radford score the overtime winner. With Luke out of lineup, we’ll need to get some more goal production from everyone.”
The Eagles now hit the road for five consecutive games starting on Sunday (Oct. 13) with an afternoon game against the Dragons in Drumheller. The game can be heard live on Mountain FM beginning at 2PM