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Dragons streak extends to four

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The Dragons are tied for the top spot in the league, sporting an 8-2 record.
This week the team extended its streak to four games in a row, with wins at home and on the road.
On Tuesday, October 3, the Dragons hosted the Okotoks Oilers. Connor Poffenroth scored 2:06 into the game, assisted by Kai Matthew and Nolan Viesner. It was a battle of goaltenders as the netminders on each side kept the game interesting. The 1-0 lead held until the last 12 seconds when the same line scored on the empty net. This time Matthew chalked up the goals with Viesner and Poffenroth getting the assists.
On Friday, October 6, the Dragons returned the favour and were in Okotoks for the rematch. The Oilers were fired up and outshot the Dragons 36-18. Despite this, Drumheller led after the first with a goal from Aiden LaRose. Adam Raesler added one more and the Dragons led 2-0 after two periods. Okotoks got on the scoreboard less than two minutes into the third, but Poffenroth put the Dragons up 3-1 with 15 minutes left in the game. Okotoks didn’t back down and scored two to end regulation time tied.
After a scoreless extra period, the game went to a shootout. Raesler connected to win the game.
On Saturday night, October 7, the Dragons were back in the Dragon’s Den to take on the Drayton Valley Thunder. Raseler opened the scoring with his seventh of the season and put the Dragons up 1-0 after one. Jacob Goudreau added one early in the second period to fortify the lead.
The Thunder added one at the midway point of the third period, But Ryan Henderson and Kai Matthew each scored one as the Dragons went on to a 4-1 win.
The Dragons are league leaders, with an 8-2 record, tied for the top spot with Blackfalds and Sherwood Park.
This week, the Dragons have a three-game home stand, beginning on Tuesday, October 10, when they take on Fort McMurray, results were not available at press time. On Friday, October 13, they host the Grande Prairie Storm and on Saturday, October 14, face off against Lloydminster Bobcats.


Senior Titans tromp Carstairs

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The new Big Sky League is getting the Senior Titans more games and more looks at different teams, and on Wednesday, September 27 they had a look at Carstairs.
The Titans played Carstairs in Didsbury, and blanked them 34-0.
“It was one of those games. It’s hard to prepare for a team that you have not seen a lot of,” said Head Coach Ken Fournier.
He said Carstairs came out with a similar offence to one that the Titans sometimes use. It took some time for the Titans to adjust to the small differences. The score was only 7-0 up until the half, but the Titans were able to hold Carstairs off.
On offense, the Titans used the game to work on their passing game.
“The idea on offence is we didn’t want to run the ball too much. We have kind of been relying on it so we wanted to make sure we spread the ball around in the air and it worked out for us,” said Fournier.
He says the team is continuing to progress, and getting better at the mental aspects of the game.
“You develop that stuff throughout the entire season. As league play goes on it will determine if things get cleaned up. I still think we took more penalties than we should have,” said Fournier.
His takeaway from the game was its success on offense.
“I was happy that throughout the game we started moving the ball in the air to different targets. It was not just one or two guys, we wanted to spread the ball around and make sure we were working on that stuff,” he said.
The Titans are hosting the Highwood Mustangs on Friday, October 6. Highwood is also relatively new, but it has been playing exhibition for two years developing its program. This season it made the jump to the senior level. This will also be the Titans’ Senior Night.

Bantam Titans undefeated

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The Bantam Titans are cruising through the season with an undefeated record.
The Bantam Titans are sporting a 3-0 record. They topped Ponoka 49-6, beat Airdrie 53-26 and last weekend went head to head with Carstairs and came up with a win.
“Carstairs is a new program, and it was 63-0 by halftime,” said coach Brad Iverson.
The team was able to get a lot of their players in for in-game experience and did well on special teams and returns.
He notes that he has been on the receiving end of these types of games and it is important to be respectful of their opponent.
While they have a strong record, there are a few teams this season that are also going undefeated, but they may not see them until the playoffs.
“It looks like Strathmore and Olds are both undefeated and we don’t see them in the regular season, so it looks like maybe come playoffs, it will be a real test. They are both playing really well.”
He notes the Bantam Titans were in Calgary during the preseason for a Jamboree, and were up against tougher teams that challenged them to improve their game.

Next up is Springbank for the Bantam Titans who are also having a fairly good season, and might challenge the Bantams a little more.
“If we play our games we should do really well against Springbank, but they are looking like a stronger team,” said Iverson.
They will also be playing Hanna in the near future, before the season begins.


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