The No. 1 Auto Body Bantam A Tyees continued to show steady improvement during a weekend road trip down-Island.
Campbell River roared to a 6-0 second period lead enroute to a 7-1 victory over the Cowichan Valley Capitals in a game played Sunday afternoon at Fuller Lake. Tyee Travis Goodwin led the attack with a pair of goals while Gavin Rauser, Rio Massee, Jaret Knowles, Cole Rennie, and Kurtis Scriba rounded out the scoring.
It was a dominating performance that Tyees head coach Peter Martin said was well deserved.
“We’ve faced some really tough competition during the past month, learned how hard you have to work to have success, and today we are a far better team for all the extra effort our players have put in.”
Martin had praise for a couple of unsung heroes.
“Kurtis Scriba and Tyson Goebel have made great contributions lately,” he said. “They take a great amount of pride in their willingness to kill penalties.”
The night before, the Tyees were edged 4-3 by the undefeated Victoria Racquet Club Kings, the same team that spanked the Tyees 10-4 just a month ago. Goodwin scored twice in the loss, while Grady McInnes added a single.
“We were much better prepared this time around,” said Martin. “Racquet Club thought it was going to be easy and we matched their intensity the entire game.”
With four goals in two games, Goodwin, converted to centre from wing, is the hottest scorer in the Tyees line-up.
“We were trying to find a guy to play in the middle but the first requirement for that position is a guy that will take care of his own zone,” said Martin. “Travis has learned it’s a lot of hard work but now he’s starting to reap the rewards. In the offensive zone he’s more than willing to stand in front, he’s got good hand-eye, and can pick up a lot of the junk around the front of the net.”
The Tyees host a rematch with the Capitals at 12:45 p.m Sunday at Rod Brind’Amour Arena.