DIDSBURY - The Mountain View Colts have advanced to the second round of the Heritage League playoffs, facing off against the Airdrie Thunder this week.
The fourth-seeded Colts swept the fifth-seeded Stettler Lightning in three games to move on.
Colts beat Stettler 4-1 at home on Saturday, Feb. 15 to finish off the Lighting. Scoring for Mountain View were Corbin Houchin, Sam Kolke, Mitchell Visser and Travis Gerrard.
Earlier games saw Mountain View win 5-0 in Game 1 on Feb. 11 at the Didsbury Memorial Complex and 9-3 in Game 2 in Stettler two days later.
Colts head coach Gord Olsen said the team worked hard at both ends of the ice to pick up the wins.
"We just outplayed them," said Olsen. "The boys were working hard."
In the 5-0 series opener on Feb. 11 in Didsbury, the Colts were led by a pair of goals from Caden Switzer and singles from Gerrard, Paton Rothenbusch and Visser.
"Their goalie (Indiana Kelly) was pretty amazing," said Olsen. "We had 70 shots and beat them 5-0. He was outstanding."
Veteran goalie Ethan Woodward picked up the win in net for Mountain View, stopping all 20 Stettler shots.
The Colts brought out the big guns for Game 2 on Feb. 13 in Stettler, winning 9-3. Leading the way for Mountain View was the top line, which scored seven of the nine Colts goals, with Visser getting a hat trick and Gerrard and Josh Gette scoring a pair each.
Also scoring for the Colts were Sam Vanderstoop and Alan Klinck with one each.
"We came ready to play," said Olsen. "The puck went in early for us. The guys had a really good night."
Next up for the Colts are the North Division's top seeded team, the Airdrie Thunder. First game of the best-of-seven series is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 21 in Airdrie with the second game hosted in Didsbury on Saturday, Feb. 22. The third game is back in Airdrie on Monday, Feb. 24 with Game 4 in Didsbury on Wednesday, Feb. 26. If necessary, games will continue on Friday, Feb.28, Saturday. Feb. 29, and Monday, March 2.
In the other North Division semifinals, Red Deer faces Sylvan Lake.
