Fredrick stands tall as Vikes draw closer to playoff spot with win over SFU

The University of Victoria picked up a big win in their battle for a B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League playoff berth, topping Simon Fraser University by a 4-3 score at the Ian Stewart Complex on Friday night.

The young Vikes squad needed to find a way to win in order to keep their slim playoff hopes alive, trailing SFU by eight points for the fourth place in the BCIHL standings and the league's final playoff spot.

Veteran goaltender Michael Fredrick got the start for the Vikes and gave his team a chance to win by making several unbelievable stops as SFU pressured the Vikes constantly throughout the game.

The Clan’s Kyle Bergh opened the scoring at 17:08 of the 1st period to give SFU a 1-0 lead but the Vikes came right back scoring at 15:28 when Vikes forward Liam Shaw broke down the left wing and unleashed a slap shot that beat SFU’s Ryan Sandrin on the stick side. 

Seven minutes later, Vikes rookie defenseman Ben Raffler scored his team's first shorthanded goal of the season at 8:21 of the period while battling for the puck in front of SFU’s net and slipping a shot past Sandrin. And with 2:58 remaining in the first period, defenseman Jake Tesarowski snuck in from the point and lasered a shot past the SFU netminder giving the Vikes a two-goal lead.

SFU’s Spencer Unger picked up the only goal of the second period when the scored from the slot cutting the Vikes lead to 3- 2. With the Vikes up by that same score in the third period, Matthew Hermary scored his first goal of the season early in the frame to increase Victoria's lead to two.

SFU continued pressuring the Vikes, forcing Fredrick to make several spectacular saves to keep the hosts up by two. With less than 10 minutes to go in the third, SFU captain Matthew Berry-Lamontagna scored a shorthanded goal to cut the lead down to one. SFU continued to force the play trying to tie the game as the Vikes had to kill a minor penalty with 3:30 remaining in the game, but Fredrick stood tall to preserve the win.

The Vikes' netminder was named the game's first star as he held down the fort stopping 25 of the 29 shots he faced.

With the win the Vikes now trail SFU by 6 points for the final playoff spot with seven games remaining. SFU has three games in hand, but the teams still have to play each other three more times before the end of the regular season.

The Vikes next game is on Friday, January 25th when they host Selkirk College at the Ian Stewart Complex. Puck drop is at 7:30 PM.