Boulder’s Chris Coyle scored with 1:20 left in the third period and the Boulder Bison beat the El Paso Rhinos for the third time this season, 5-4, Friday night in Boulder, CO.
El Paso goalie Max Dizgun suffered the worst defeat in his young Rhinos career in allowing the five goals, but three of the goals came with El Paso shorthanded, and two of those were Bison 5-on-3 power plays.
All four Rhinos goals came on the power play, as Dizgun’s opposite number in net, Mathieu Laberge, stopped 36 of 40 El Paso shots.
The two teams have combined for a number of hard-fought games, and the Rhinos have won four of the seven meetings thus far. Small consolation for El Paso, which squandered a 4-3 lead in the third period after Navarone Copley’s second goal of the night, just 2:20 into the third.
Just under five minutes later, the game was tied as Garrett Trummer lifted his shot past Dizgun on a two-man advantage at 7:44.
The game remained neck-and-neck for over half the period before Coyle beat Dizgun even strength with the game-winner at 18:40.
In addition to Copley’s two-goal night, Trevor Erickson and Timothy Avegard scored for the Rhinos, who fall to 16-3-0, still leading the Bison in the Mid-West Division by 10 points, 32-22. Boulder, though, improves to 11-5-0, and has an opportunity to cut El Paso’s lead under double digits over the weekend.
The Bison host the Rhinos twice more, Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. Fans can follow the games at the league’s website with live updates throughout, at www.wshl.org <http://www.wshl.org/>.
Photo courtesy of www.acarlsonphoto.com
