Copperheads rally late, take commanding series lead

COALDALE – Three unanswered goals in the final 3:29 of the third period propelled the Coaldale Copperheads to a 4-2 Game 3 victory over the Cochrane Generals, giving them a commanding 3-0 lead in their best-of-seven South Division Final series.

Trailing 2-0 with less than five minutes to play, Brant Mack got the Copperheads on the board, while Levi Anderson would find the equalizer with 2:16 remaining. Just 13 seconds after that Jayden Smith gave his team their first lead of the night, while Jayden Bexte added an insurance marker with 26 seconds in the frame.

Scott Shugg and Braden Bain had the goals for Cochrane, which got 33 saves from netminder Knute Loe on the night.

Nolan Berner turned aside 30-of-32 between the pipes for Coaldale, which will look to close out the series on Sunday in Cochrane. Game 4 of the series is slated for 5:30pm at the Cochrane Arena.