University of Victoria tops SFU in overtime to split weekend series

Mitchell Bell's goal 42 seconds into overtime gave the University of Victoria a come-from-behind 3-2 home victory over SFU on Saturday night at the Ian Stewart Complex.

The UVic win split the weekend series after the Clan had picked up a 6-2 decision on Friday.

The Vikes opened the scoring on the power-play at the 15:14 mark of the first period when Shawn Mueller took advantage of an SFU turnover in the low slot and beat Clan starter Evan Kurylo. But the visitors replied before intermission when Kale Wild converted a pass from linemate Trent Murdoch to tie the game.

SFU went ahead midway through the second period off the stick off Murdoch, who went hard to the net to poke home a rebound off a Taylor Piller shot. But with the minutes ticking away in the third period, Mueller snapped home a shot from the high slot for his second of the night and send the game to overtime.

Nick Babich picked up the win in net for the Vikes, turning aside 26 shots. Kurylo made 23 saves in the loss.

The victory moves UVic into a three-way tie for third place in the BCIHL standings with nine points. SFU remains second with a record of 6-1-0-1.

Friday's game saw Murdoch and Wild count three points each in the 6-2 SFU win, while Graeme Gordon made 19 stops in net. Mueller and Jeff Harvey replied with goals for the Vikes.

Both UVic and SFU will play a pair of games in the final weekend of fall semester action. The Vikes will hit the road for a Friday match-up at Eastern Washington and a Saturday night visit to Selkirk College, while the Clan are set for a home-and-home series with Thompson Rivers University. SFU will travel to Kamloops on Friday night and host the WolfPack in Burnaby on Saturday.