Saints pull off road sweep to jump atop BCIHL standings
By The Nelson Daily Sports
The Selkirk Saints sent a strong message to the rest of the B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League by blasting Trinity Western University by 6-1 and 8-2 scores on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
The two wins erased a disappointing road swing a few weeks again when Selkirk lost in Kamloops and Burnab.
“We really got solid performances from our entire line-up this weekend,” said Saints head coach Jeff Dubois.
“We have a lot of respect for Trinity Western’s compete level, and I think in both games we were able to finish strong because we knew we were facing a team that wasn’t going to quit.”
In the weekend opener on Friday night, Selkirk burst out to a 4-0 lead after 20 minutes and never looked back. Mason Spear opened the scoring for the visitors off a net-front scramble early in the frame and Darnell Dyck, Cody Fidgett and Connor McLaughlin added tallies of their own before intermission.
J.P. Villeneuve put the Spartans on the board in the second period, but Fidgett and Markus McCrea — with his first Saints goal — capped off the scoring in the third period.
James Prigione picked up the win in goal with a 19-save performance, while Harry Fredeman allowed six goals on 42 shots in the loss.
On Saturday, the teams fought through a much closer first period, with Saints goals from Logan Proulx and Markus McCrea being countered by a power-play effort from TWU’s Jamey Kreller.
But Selkirk blew things open in the middle frame, as Ryan Procyshyn scored the first regular season goal by a Saints defenceman before Jackson Garrett and Thomas Hardy added on to increase the lead to four.
Connor McLaughlin then converted on a third period penalty shot before Cody Fidgett and Jared Seutter put the score beyond reach.
Chris Hurry made 25 saves in goal for the win, while Fredeman took his third loss is as many starts against Selkirk this season after allowing eight goals.
Selkirk captain Logan Proulx extended his season-long points streak to nine games on Saturday with a goal and an assist while McLaughlin and Fidgett are now tied for the BCIHL goals lead with 11 each.
“Offensively, we’ve got a bunch of guys who are having success right now and that seems to be contagious,” Dubois explained.
“Thomas Hardy got his first goal of the season on Saturday and had a four-point game, which was great to see. Markus McCrea had been really snakebite around the net all season and he scored in both games. So on that side of the puck we’re where we want to be, and we’ll spend some time working on the defensive side of things as we prepare for a big game against SFU next weekend.”
The Saints now sit atop the BCIHL standings with 14 points, but have played three more games than an SFU squad that will be their next opponent at home on Saturday night.
Puck drop against the 2013 league runners-up is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Saturday (November 16).
