Vikes' offence breaks out, defence holds firm in 5-0 road win over SFU

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Last weekend, the University of Victoria captured their first win of the 2013/14 B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League season with a dramatic come-from-behind effort against first place Selkirk College.

But the best way yet to come for a Vikes squad that fought injuries and a series of unlucky breaks to begin the season 0-10, as they closed out their 2013 schedule on Saturday night with a decisive 5-0 road win at Simon Fraser University.

Mark Prest opened the scoring for UVic just 2:21 inot regulation when he converted a Mitchell Bell pass from below the goal line and beat Clan netminder Andrew Parent. And the visitors doubled the lead at the midway point of the first period when Luciano Somerville blasted a shot over the blocker of Parent to cap off a 3-on-1 rush.

The teams played scoreless hockey in the second period, but the Vikes went to work on extending their lead early in the third when Shawn Mueller scored on a wrap-around with a two-man power play advantage.

Former UVic captain Matthew Bell then made an impact in his first game of the season, scoring less than two minutes later to give the Vikes a four-goal lead before setting up Eli Wiebe for his team's fifth of the night.

Nick Babich stopped all 27 shots that SFU sent his way to record his first shutout of the season. Parent was relieved by Graeme Gordon after the fourth UVic goal and took the loss on a night where his team was outshot by a 33-27 margin.

With the win, UVic has now collected five of a possible eight points to close out the semester. They now trail fourth place Trinity Western by only five points with the Spartans nursing a seven-game losing streak.

The Vikes are back in action on Friday, January 24th when they host TWU in the first of back-to-back games in Victoria.

The Clan, meanwhile, fall to 8-2 on the season but will have the opportunity to draw even with first place Selkirk College when they close out their 2013 schedule next weekend with a pair of home games versus Eastern Washington.