COYOTES STRIKE FIRST IN GAME 1

It was a night to remember at the first annual Jags Night event as the Richmond Hill Coyotes took down the County Royals in Game 1 of the COSHL semi-finals.

The Coyotes came out flying, opening the scoring with a snipe from Dennis Golovatchev, assisted by Ernazar Isamatov and Austin Maietta. That was quickly followed by a goal from Joseph Lionta, set up by Brett Thorne, who tallied three assists on the night. Just 41 seconds later, Maietta buried a rebound to make it 3-0.

Then came a rush from Brandon Jang, who started the play from the defensive zone and set up Ivan Osminin for his first career semi-pro goal. The Royals responded with a timeout and a quick goal, but the Coyotes answered right back — off a faceoff win by Tye Campbell, Jang sent Brendan Wise in on a breakaway to score his first goal in the white and silver.

The Royals added another late in the first to make it 5-2, but the rest of the night was all Richmond Hill. Golovatchev added another, and Nic Campese sealed the deal with the final goal.

The Coyotes now lead the series 1-0 and are locked in for Game 2.

Special thanks to the Richmond Hill Hockey Association for their continued support — the pack is just getting started.