Saints jump into top spot with 6-1 thrashing of TWU
By The Nelson Daily Sports
The Selkirk Saints continue shine on the B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League.
The Saints struck four times in the second period to blast Trinity Western Spartans 6-1 in BCIHL action Friday night at the Castlegar Complex.
The win christened the home season for the Saints and moves the Saints to 3-0 on the season for first place in league standings.
“We came out hard wanting to make a positive impression on the home crowd and get them into the game,” said Saints head coach Jeff Dubois.
“The result was an excellent first period where we scored twice but could have had a handful of goals.”
Selkirk struck twice in a span of 2:13 midway through the first period after capitalizing on a pair of power-play opportunities.
Logan Proulx got things started for the Saints when he redirected a nifty cross-ice pass from Jordan Wood, and the pair combined again moments later to set up a marker by linemate Jackson Garrett.
Thomas Hardy and Trevor Beaupre exchanged tallies early in the second period before Wood and Proulx struck again on a 2-on-1 and extended the Saints lead to 4-1.
A scrum in the crease following Wood’s goal led to game misconducts for Garrett and Trinity Western defenceman Tristano Falbo, and ultimately to TWU head coach Dwayne Lowdermilk.
Selkirk then put the game out of reach in the final minute of the second period, as a Nick Cecconi goal with 40 seconds remaining in the frame was quickly followed up by Hardy’s second of the game with nine seconds to play.
“The report we had on TWU’s goaltender was that he doesn’t give up on pucks and that was right on; he saw a ton of shots and was very good,” Dubois explained.
“The game got choppy after we went up 4-1 in the second, but overall our guys were rewarded for a very good effort.”
The teams played to a scoreless third period despite the Saints pouring 19 pucks in the direction of TWU netminder Harry Fredeman, who made a number of excellent saves on a night where his team was out-shot 64-25. Chris Hurry picked up the win in goal for Selkirk, turning aside 24 of the 25 shots he faced.
Logan Proulx and Jordan Wood each counted three points on the night, while the line of Thomas Hardy, Beau Taylor and Cody Fidgett had two points each. Those five Saints forwards all sit in the Top-10 in BCIHL scoring at this early point in the season.
Selkirk returns to home ice next weekend for a pair of games against Thompson Rivers University on Friday and Saturday night .
Puck drop both nights is 7:30 p.m.
The WolfPack sit two points behind the Saints in the league standings with four points by way of a 2-0 record.
