For the first time this season the Selkirk College Men's Hockey program found itself trailing at both intermissions on Saturday evening, but a third period rally sparked by a timely 5-on-3 penalty kill lifted the Saints to a 5-3 decision over Eastern Washington University at the Castlegar Recreation Complex.
The win extended Selkirk's B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League-record streak for wins to start a season to 11 and maintained the Saints' tight grip on first place in the league standings.
The Eagles took their first of three leads on the night midway through the first period when Ryan Pajimola intercepted a neutral zone pass and blasted a shot past Selkirk netminder Alex Sirard. Cody Fidgett drew the hosts even minutes later on a power-play, but EWU went ahead once more with 1:54 remaining in the frame when Uriah Machuga capitalized on a Saints turnover and scored from the high slot.
The game remained tight in the second with Logan Proulx and Machuga trading power-play goals less than two minutes apart. And Selkirk came up big late in the frame, killing a two-man advantage for the final 54 seconds of the period in order to squeak into intermission down a single goal.
After continuing their solid work on the penalty kill in the opening minute of the third period, the Saints found the momentum-changing goal they'd been searching for. Beau Taylor, who was playing at centre in the absence of injured linemate Thomas Hardy, won an offensive zone face-off straight forward and passed across the top of the crease to Fidgett for a tap-in equalizer.
The eventual game winner would follow just 53 seconds later, as Connor Stephens pounced on a rebound from a Ben Starbuck wrap-around and beat EWU starter Jason Greenwell. And the Saints allowed their visitors few chances for the remainder of the third period, outshooting the Eagles 13-3 before Connor McLaughlin scored into an empty net to put the finishing touches on the win.
"With two weeks between games we knew there might be some rust coming into tonight's game and we saw that early with a couple of mental errors that Eastern made us pay for," says Saints head coach Jeff Dubois.
"But it was a good experience for us to get behind at home and have to raise our game and battle back. We got better as the game went on and it was nice to see our fourth line come through with the winning goal. You don't want to have to count on coming from behind on a regular basis, but tonight we're pleased with the character we showed in the third period."
Alex Sirard picked up his seventh win in as many appearances for the Saints, making 16 saves including a breakaway stop on Ryan Pajimola late in the first period that kept his team within one heading to intermission. Greenwell faced 37 shots and took the loss for EWU.
Selkirk returns to home ice for their final game of 2012 when the University of Victoria visits Castlegar on Saturday, December 1st. Faceoff is set for 7:30 PM.
SAINTS NOTES: A victory against the Vikes next weekend would see Selkirk tie the BCIHL's all-time longest winning streak at 12 games.
Ironically, UVic set the current record during the 2006/07 season. Former Trail Smoke Eaters captain Clayton McEwan made his Saints debut on Saturday, wearing #3 and playing solid defence paired with second-year blueliner Justin Sotkowy.
Selkirk captain Jordan Wood was held off the scoresheet for the first time this season, bringing his 10-game points streak to a close. His linemates enjoyed a productive night, however, as Logan Proulx picked up a goal and Jackson Garrett added three assists.
VICTORIA
SIMON FRASER
OKANAGAN
LOGAN LAKE
VANCOUVER ISLAN.
