Saints rally past SFU Clan to set new BCIHL record
By The Nelson Daily Sports
Rust was definitely a problem as the Selkirk Saints opened the second half of the B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League season.
Mason Spear rescued the Saints undefeated record, allowing the Castlegar-based school to set a new league record by scoring the winner with just over three minutes remaining in the third period to lift Selkirk to a 4-3 BCIHL victory over Simon Fraser before the largest crowd of the season Saturday night at the Castlegar Complex.
“We anticipated some rust coming out in the first and we didn’t really get going until midway through the game, but once we found our legs we seemed to carry the play in the second and third,” said Saints head coach Jeff Dubois.
Selkirk trailed 1-0 after one period and 3-2 after 40 minutes.
The one-goal deficit remained until Thomas Hardy tied the game with 3:29 remaining in the frame.
Nineteen seconds later Spear sent the crowd of 550 into a frenzy with the game winner.
“We have a confident and resilient group, and the feeling on the bench and in the room between periods was that it was just a matter of time before we got rewarded for our hard work,” Dubois explained.
“SFU has a very talented team and we know we’re going to have some more battles with them down the road, but tonight the guys put in the type of effort that it takes to win a tight game and it paid off.”
Logan Proulx and Jordan Wood also scored for Selkirk.
Trevor Milner, with a pair, and Bruin McDonald replied for the Clan.
Selkirk outshot the Clan 12-1 in the third period as the host club, pushed the play to set a new BCIHL record — the Saints are 13-0 on the current campaign.
Saints netminder Alex Sirard turned aside 19 shots in the victory while Graeme Gordon made 34 saves — including a number of outstanding stops in the latter half of the game — in a losing effort.
The Saints return to their home ice on Friday, January 18th when Trinity Western University visits Castlegar. Face-off is set for 8 p.m.
SAINTS NOTES: Saturday night’s crowd set an all-time record for attendance at a Selkirk hockey game with 550. . . .The Saints (13-0-0) now boast a five-point lead over SFU in the BCIHL standings and also hold a game in hand over the 10-3-1 Clan. . . .The teams next meet on Saturday, February 2 when the Clan returns to Castlegar. They conclude their four-game regular season on February 23 in Burnaby.
