Saints struggle on road, host UVIC this weekened at Complex
By The Nelson Daily Sports
By The Nelson Daily Sports
The Selkirk Saints dropped a pair of road games as the B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey season kicked off its 2011 season on a variety of fronts.
Selkirk opened the new semester with a 10-4 shellacking at the hands of Simon Fraser Clan. Saturday, the Saints lost a close one, losing 3-2 to Trinity Western Spartans.
Selkirk made the trip missing some key parts to the team as defencemen Josh Mace (Nelson) and Devin Kerckhof (Edmonton)and forward Caleb Georgetti (Nelson) did not make the trip.
The missing parts, along with the eight-hour bus ride, made it easy for the Clan as the host held period leads of 5-2 and 8-4.
Leading the Saints scoring was Scotty Traverse (Fernie) with one goal and two assists and newly acquired Brendan Madlung (Revelstoke) with two assists.
Cody Baker (Trail), Travis Herlein (Calgary) and Denver Blackmore (Castlegar) added single goals while Braeden Mace (Nelson), Caleb Roy (Cranbrook) and Adam Makaroff (Nelson) earned single helpers.
Selkirk killed six of seven SFU power plays.
Saturday’s game versus Trinity Western Spartans (TWU) was a completely different story as the Saints found new legs and a determined spirit to come home with a split.
Putting forth one of their best efforts of the season the Saints surprised the much-improved Spartans who knocked off top-ranked Thompson Rivers University 2-1 Friday.
After TWU scored on the power play in the first, Caleb Roy evened the match with a wrist shot from center ice that fooled goaltender Sean Langreiger.
Brendan Madlung put the Saints up one with a quick goal to start the second period but the Spartans tallied four minutes later to even the score at two apiece after two periods.
Both teams traded numerous chances in the third but Trinity managed the only goal to earn the victory. Roy and Baker had assists for the Saints and Spenser Wong (Calgary) managed 37 of 40 shots on the night.
The Saints play host to a pair of games Friday and Saturday at the Castlegar Complex as the University of Victoria Vikes pay a visit to the Kootenays.
Both games have 7 p.m. starts.
SAINTS BANTER: Forward Burhan Pourmokhtari (Trail) recently joined the Saints from the Beaver Valley Nitehawks of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League. Burhan earned 21 points in 33 games with the Hawks in the KIJHL. Devin Kerckhof is expected to be back in action after nearly two months on the injury list.
sports@thenelsondaily.com
