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Rivermen fall to Express in a wild one

Township of Langley, BC (Wednesday, November 11, 2015) – It was another goal filled tilt between the Langley Rivermen and Coquitlam Express on Wednesday afternoon at the Langley Events Centre. Coquitlam was able to come away with a 7-5 victory in what was their first win against the Rivermen this season. Nickolas Trencianksy started in net for the Riv, while Tyger Howat got the call for Coquitlam.

The Express hit the score sheet first at the 5:34 mark of the opening period. Right after a successful Coquitlam penalty kill, Luca Leone took a pass in the high slot and one-timed a slap shot past Trenciansky. Minutes later, Justin Fregona put away his team leading 16th goal of the season to even up the score. It came off of a perfectly executed give and go with Matthew Graham who drew the only assist. The tie did not last long, as Nicholas Coltura gave the Express their lead right back less than two minutes after the Fregona marker. Coquitlam would take a 2-1 advantage into the intermission, but were outshot 13-9.

17 seconds into the second period, Coltura scored his second of the game on a Coquitlam power play to give his team a 3-1 lead. However, the Rivermen responded on a two-man advantage at the 12:04 mark. Max Kaufman steered in his sixth goal of the campaign after Graham fired a quick shot from the right-wing that bounced in off the stick of Kaufman, who was standing in front of the net. Graham earned his second point of the game with the primary helper, while Zach Bleuler had the secondary assist.

At 3:25 of the third, Torrin White scored the equalizer after he redirected a point shot from Austin Cho. For White, it was his fourth goal of the season and second in as many games. A few shifts later, the Rivermen got their first lead of the game, courtesy of Dominic Franco. Fregona did great work to fend off a few checks and set up Franco, who buried a shot beneath the blocker of Howat. Fregona along with Graham had the assists on Franco’s fourth goal in his last four games. The lead did not last long, as Colton Kerfoot tied the game at 4-4 at 8:23 of the period on a well-placed shot beneath the blocker of Trenciansky from the slot. The onslaught of goals continued in the final frame, with Matt Graham scoring a highlight reel power play goal. The Bedford, Nova Scotia native put on a fantastic stickhandling display from the right boards and fired a quick wrist shot on his way to the goal that found the top right corner. Kaufman and Bleuler had the assists on Graham’s fourth point of the game, and 12th goal of the season. The wild period continued, as the Express tied the game at 12:39 on a power play goal from Cameron Bertsch and then took the lead at 15:12 with another one on the man advantage from Jack Surowiec. Alex Ambrosio iced the game at 19:06 with an empty net marker.

In the end, the Rivermen fired 49 shots towards Tyger Howat, who picked up his fourth win of the season. The third period will be the talking point for many, as the teams combined for a total of seven goals. 78 penalty minutes and saw three lead changes in just over 10 minutes. In the three head to head matchups thus far, the two squads have combined for a whopping total of 29 goals. Langley still leads the season series 2-1.

The Rivermen and their 12-9-0-0 record hit the road for a three game island trip beginning on Friday in Powell River.

NOTES: Shots on Goal: LAN 49, COQ 32. Power play: LAN 2/8, COQ 3/4. Three Stars: 1st: COQ Nicholas Coltura, 2nd: LAN Matthew Graham, 3rd: LAN Justin Fregona.

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