Saints keep drive for first alive with comeback shootout win at TRU

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The Selkirk College Men's Hockey program fell behind early but finished strong on Saturday night in Kamloops, topping Thompson Rivers University 3-2 in a shootout to keep alive their hopes for another first place finish in the B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League.

Former Selkirk forward Travis Herlein took advantage of a slow road start from the Saints, scoring twice in a span of 4:51 in the first period to give the WolfPack an early 2-0 lead.

But the Saints rebounded before intermission, as Thomas Hardy took a slick pass from Mason Spear and beat TRU goaltender Mark Menicucci inside the far post to pull the visitors within one.

Selkirk took control in the second period but were unable to even the score until Logan Proulx was sprung for a breakaway by linemate Jackson Garrett and blew a wrist shot past the glove of the WolfPack netminder.

But that was the last time that the Saints would get the better of Menicucci during regulation, as the Surrey, BC product went on to make a number of sensational saves during the second and third periods.

Following a scoreless overtime frame, Saints netminder Chris Hurry stopped all three WolfPack shootout attempts before Darnell Dyck beat Menicucci on a backhand deke to win the game and give Selkirk a much-needed two points.

"It took us some time to start competing in the defensive zone tonight and we put ourselves in a hole because of that," says Saints head coach Jeff Dubois. "But we have a lot of confidence in our offence to bring us back those types of situations, and I thought we did the things we needed to in order to win in the second and third periods."

"(Mark) Menicucci was outstanding in goal for TRU and made some huge saves late in the game and overtime, so you have to tip your hat to him. It was the second night in a row where we had 50+ shots on goal and didn't end up with a whole lot to show for it, but it was good to see us battle through that in both games and pick up two important wins."

The victory sets up a huge game on Saturday night when the Saints will host Simon Fraser University. Selkirk currently trails the Clan by two points for first place in the BCIHL standings, but they are assured of overtaking their Lower Mainland rivals with three straight wins to close out the regular season.

Game time is set for 7:30 PM at the Castlegar Recreation Complex.

GAME NOTES: With his second period goal, Proulx extended his season-long points streak to 21 games.