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Dragons face tough competition against league leaders

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The Dragons had a tough week, facing the two top division-leading teams in the league.
The Dragons headed north on Wednesday, October 26, to take on the Spruce Grove Saints which are leading the North Division. The Dragons outshot the Saints 15-5 in the first period, but it was Spruce Grove that ended up on the scoreboard first. With less than a minute left in the first period, Connor Poffenroth evened up the score.
Spruce Grove went ahead in the second period. But Adam Raisler scored midway through the third period to tie the game on the powerplay. The game went to extra time and the Saints scored at the 4:52 mark of overtime to take the 3-2 win.
On Friday, October 28, the Dragons were back on home ice to take on the Brooks Bandits, who are tearing up the league with a 16-1-1-1 record. Again the Dragons outshot their opponent, but Brooks was finding the net and led 6-0 after two periods. Coy Pighin scored his first as a Dragon in the third period, making it a 6-1 loss.
On Saturday, October 29, the Dragons completed the home and away series with Brooks. This time the Dragons scored first, with Raesler finding the net unassisted 3:26 into the game. After that, the Bandits scored at will, with one in the first period, five in the second and three in the third. Jacob Goudreau scored at the 7:20 mark of the third period, and Raelser scored his second of the game with less than five minutes left, but this one was in the book for the Bandits winning 9-3.
The Dragons hope to get back over .500 this week, hosting the Okotoks Oilers on Friday, November 4, and then heading to Camrose to play the Kodiaks on Saturday, November 5.


Dragons climbing after two wins

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The Dragons are back on track with two wins last week, climbing the standings into fifth in the AJHL Viterra South Division.
The Dragons were in the den on Friday, October 21, to take on the Calgary Canucks, and opened the scoring within the first two minutes as Ty Daneault found the net. Calgary tied it up to end the first period at one a-piece. Ty Whitford put the Dragons up again on the powerplay, but the Canucks answered back, ending the second tied at two. The pattern repeated itself, this time with Daneault scoring his second and Calgary tying it up, forcing overtime. Just 1:48 into extra time, Noah Danielson scored his fourth of the season unassisted, winning 4-3.
On Saturday, October 22, the Dragons were in Olds to take on the Grizzlys. The Dragons were on fire in the first period firing off five straight goals. Dylan Glinski opened the scoring and was soon followed up by Vann Yuhas, just 29 seconds later. Glinski added his second goal less than two minutes later on the powerplay. Next, it was Danielson’s turn shorthanded, and then Isaiah Peters added his second of the season.
The Grizzly’s had a hole to dig out of but only mustered a single goal in the second.
Glinski finished off a hat trick 19 seconds into the third period, and Ty Whitford added one for good measure. Olds added one with 4:22 left, as the Dragons went on to a 7-2 win.
As of Monday, the Dragons are 7-5, and trailing the Okotoks Oilers by two points. This Wednesday, October 26, they are in Spruce Grove, and on Friday back home to play Brooks. On Saturday, October 29, they head to Brooks to face them again.

Senior Titans honour seniors, trounce Carstairs

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The Drumheller Senior Titans took a moment to honour their senior players who will be graduating this year and heading on to their next steps in life.
The Titans hosted Carstairs on Friday, October 14. The Titans will see 10 players graduate this year. They were honoured by the team, coaches, and fans before they headed out onto the field.
As for the game, the Titans knew they were facing a new and inexperienced team. It allowed them to work on their game as they cruised to a 69-0 victory.
“With a score like that, it doesn’t really speak to the whole process of the game,” said head coach Ken Fournier. “When you see a team for the first time you don’t know what kind of team to prepare for offensively or defensively. They have some guys with a lot of guts and a lot of speed. Being the fact they had no Grade 12 and 16 Grade 10s, if that group can stay together, they will be more competitive next year.”
The Titans were able to dust off the playbook and work on their execution in an in-game setting. That doesn’t mean it was not competitive.
“I thought we did a pretty good job of spreading the ball around, but we definitely made some mistakes,” he said. “There were some broken plays and there were moments in the game they were disrupting us offensively.”
“We saw a tight formation on the defensive line, which is something we haven’t seen before and we had to adapt to it early. They battled to the very last play.”
The Titans have a week before playoffs begin. Fournier said they are looking at trying to arrange an exhibition game to keep brushing up on their execution before the postseason.


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