UVic grabs crucial win, tie vs. UFV

To keep pace in the BC Intercollegiate Hockey League's closest standings race, the University of Victoria needed to make a point against the University of the Fraser Valley in a weekend doubleheader on home ice.

In the end, they made three of them.

Victoria is now back in the thick of a heated race for second place after they followed up a 6-6 tie on Friday night with a decisive 6-2 win on Saturday. With the trio of points, the Vikes eliminated Fraser Valley's hopes of catching SFU atop the league standings but kept alive their shot at a third consecutive regular season title.

The story of the weekend was Victoria's suddenly hot offence, which exploded for12 goals against a usually stingy UFV defence. The difference? Many would point to the return of power forward Kit Matkaluk, who returned to the lineup for the first time this season and efforted multi-point performances in both games.

One offensive weapon who was absent from the weekend set was Fraser Valley sniper Rob Vos. The defending BCIHL Most Valuable Player and scoring champ is currently sidelined with an ankle injury.

The University of Victoria is now idle until Friday, February 20th when they begin a three-game road swing through the Lower Mainland with a tilt against Trinity Western in Langley. Fraser Valley will return to action on the 22nd when they face the Vikes in Abbotsford.