Hockey / Butte Cobras sweep Southern Oregon with 8-3 win

Butte Cobras sweep Southern Oregon with 8-3 win

Date:  Source: Butte Cobras

Derek Smith scored an unassisted goal to break a third-period deadlock and the Butte Cobras pulled away to beat the Southern Oregon Spartans, 8-3, and sweep the best-of-three series, Saturday night in Medford.

The Cobras will play the Idaho Junior Steelheads next weekend with a chance to become one of four remaining teams in the Western States Hockey League’s Thorne Cup playoffs.

Smith scored an unassisted goal at 12:15 of the third period, shortly after the Spartans had scored two unanswered goals to tie the score at 3.

 

Jan Marcillis, Daniel Armstrong, Taylor Karr and Joel Johnson added goals for Butte, which put an end to Southern Oregon’s season.

Earl Webb staked the Cobras to a 1-0 lead with a goal at 11:10 of the first period, with Jacob Rudloff and Harro Koll assisting.

Petr Panacek doubled the lead at the 16:04 mark of the same frame, taking a pass from Marcillis and shooting it past Southern Oregon goalie Matias Toivola.

Smith picked up a tripping penalty late in the first period, and the two-minute infraction carried into the second period.

 
 
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The Cobras’ penalty-killing unit killed off the infraction, and Butte added its third goal of the game less than three minutes later.

Artyom Puntus did the honors with an unassisted goal at 2:16 of the period, giving Butte a 3-0 lead while putting even more pressure on Southern Oregon.

The Spartans got one goal back midway through the second period on a goal by Harmen Vining.

Jacob Elik and Chris Seto scored third-period goals to tie the score but Smith robbed the Spartans of their momentum and helped steer the Cobras into the next round.

Armstrong had a three-point game with a goal and two assists. All of his points came in the third period.

Idaho advanced to the next round with a two-game sweep over Lake Tahoe. Idaho outscored Lake Tahoe, 22-6 in the series.

The Junior Steelheads built a 5-1 record against the Cobras during the regular season, with the only Butte win coming in overtime on Oct. 23.