Road win sees UVic leapfrog SFU for 3rd on final night of regular season

A big road win on the final night of the regulat season saw the University of Victoria leapfrog Simon Fraser and capture a third place finish in the BCIHL standings.

One night after missing on a chance to move ahead of the Clan with a loss to TWU in Langley, the Vikes capitalized on limited scoring opportunities to top the Clan by a 5-4 score.

Jono Ceci opened the scoring during a back-and-forth first period, but UVic forward Linden Horswill knotted the game just 13 seconds later and team captain Evan Warner put the visitors ahead before intermission.

The Vikes held a 2-1 lead until midway through the second period when Ceci, on a power-play, and Trent Murdoch both scored for SFU in the span of 29 seconds. But Shawn Mueller, converting a set-up from linemate Adam Klein, brought UVic level once again minutes later to tie the game heading into the third.

Klein and SFU's Graham Smerek exchanged goals during the final frame before Cam Rowat netted the game winner for the Vikes when he stole the puck off the stick of an SFU defenceman and poked it past Clan netminder Andrew Parent. UVic then killed off a late Clan power-play to preserve the win.

Scott Legault picked up his seventh win of the season in net for Victoria with a 40-save effort, while Parent was tagged with the loss on a night where he faced 22 shots and allowed five goals.

With the result, UVic will travel to Castlegar next weekend for their first round series against second place Selkirk College while SFU will face off against Lower Mainland rivals Trinity Western.