Huskies skate past T-Birds in tight checking affair…
Penalties story of the night
At Rutherford Rink in Saskatoon, the #8 ranked University of Saskatchewan Huskies were able to score two late goals and escaped with a 2-0 victory over the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds. With the win, the Huskies are now 6-4-1 on the season while UBC drops to 4-5.
On a cold blustery night in Saskatoon, fans braved the weather and came to Rutherford Rink to cheer on their hockey Huskies. It wouldn’t take very long for both teams to mount quality scoring chances, as early on in the 1st period many penalties would be called. The Dogs would be on the receiving end of two 5-3 man advantages and fired everything they had at T-Birds net-minder Gerry Festa who was equal to the task. Having survived the penalty kill, UBC would get a few chances of their own, but Huskies goalie Jeff Harvey kept the puck out of his net as well. After 20 minutes of play, both teams found themselves quite frustrated with their lack of offense, and looked to take advantage of their power-plays in the second.
The second period would be full of non-stop trips to the penalty box for both teams again, but just like the first period, neither team would be able to capitalize. The best chance of the period came late, when Huskies forward Mason Wallin found himself on a breakaway, staring UBC’s goalie right in the eyes. After making a terrific first move, Wallin had a gaping top half of the net to fire at, but couldn’t pull the trigger. That chance definitely summed up both teams inability to score throughout forty minutes of play. Shots on goal after two periods found the Huskies in control with 25 shots to UBC’s 17.
In the third period, the intensity was cranked up to a whole new level, as both teams knew that if they could get that first goal, the way the night had been going, one may have just been enough. The Huskies, who found themselves with many quality scoring chances throughout the night, would once again create an offensive attack for much of the early third, but the story continued to be the outstanding goaltending put forth by UBC’s Gerry Festa. The T-Birds then had their best chance of the night, when Jarrett Winn would rip a drive from the point that would catch the post, ringing loudly through Rutherford Rink.
The Huskies would finally open the scoring at the 14:06 mark of the final frame as Alekcei McAvoy fired a puck at the net that the UBC goalie couldn’t handle and the rebound bounced out to Garett Soparlo who would snap the game winner. The goal brought the crowd to its feet, and gave relief to an otherwise frustrated Huskies team. Quickly thereafter, the Dogs would add an insurance marker, as captain Brent Twordik was able to find the back of the net. The Huskies alternate captain Keegan McAvoy would pick up the assist at 15:51.
After the game Garett Soparlo was more than thrilled to get back in the line-up, and score the game winner. “Hopefully I opened some eyes tonight, I mean I’m just here to work hard and I’ll do that every game. If I’m line up I’ll be working my butt off every game. It was just nice to be back and to be able to contribute to the team.”
Head coach of the Huskies Dave Adolph feels this win may just set this team in the right direction. “With the new rule infractions there’s an awful lot of power-plays and penalty kills and teams get frustrated. We’ve got to play as a team to win games no matter who’s in the line-up. You have to make a sacrifice as a team sometimes to win games. This was just a close checking well played game. You know we preached team, and Garett Soparlo scored a team goal for us tonight.”
These same two teams will meet again at 7pm tomorrow night at Rutherford Rink to finish up the weekend series.
Game Story by: Devin Heroux – Sports Info Assistant – University of Saskatchewan
GAME INFORMATION
2 Saskatchewan vs. UBC 0
11/10/2006 :: 7:00 pm
@ Saskatoon, SK
Attendance: 726
GOALS BY PERIOD
1 2 3 Total
Saskatchewan 0 0 2 2
UBC 0 0 0 0
SHOTS BY PERIOD
1 2 3 Total
Saskatchewan 8 17 13 38
UBC 9 7 5 21
SCORING SUMMARY
Period #3
Saskatchewan - Garett Soparlo (Alekcei McAvoy ) - EV 14:07
Saskatchewan - Brent Twordik (Keegan McAvoy ) - PP 15:52
PENALTIES SUMMARY
Period #1
Saskatchewan - Evan Schafer (Slashing) , 2 min , 02:03
Saskatchewan - Mark Hinz (Hooking) , 2 min , 02:58
UBC - Mike Gough (Hooking) , 2 min , 06:37
UBC - Jeff Lynch (Charging) , 2 min , 07:31
UBC - Dalton Pajak (10-minute Misconduct) , 10 min , 07:31
UBC - Kevin Seibel (Slashing) , 2 min , 09:41
UBC - Kevin Seibel (Unsportsmanlike Cond) , 2 min , 09:41
UBC - Brad Zanon (Slashing) , 2 min , 10:28
UBC - Matt Schneider (Too Many On Ice) , 2 min , 14:00
Saskatchewan - Matt Girling (Slashing) , 2 min , 14:23
Saskatchewan - Jason Wagar (Holding) , 2 min , 17:37
Saskatchewan - Curtis Austring (Interference) , 2 min , 19:11
Period #2
UBC - TEAM (Unsportsmanlike Cond) , 2 min , 00:00
UBC - Mitch Bartley (Slashing) , 2 min , 04:11
UBC - Lance Morrison (Holding) , 2 min , 11:14
Saskatchewan - Mark Hinz (Interference) , 2 min , 12:25
UBC - Stephane Gervais (Holding) , 2 min , 13:52
UBC - Chad Grisdale (Tripping) , 2 min , 15:31
Saskatchewan - Scott Roy (Interference) , 2 min , 18:06
Period #3
UBC - Mike Gough (Roughing) , 2 min , 00:00
UBC - Stephane Gervais (Slashing) , 2 min , 11:22
UBC - Jarrett Winn (Holding) , 2 min , 14:56
UBC - Darrell May (10-minute Misconduct) , 10 min , 17:51
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Saskatchewan UBC
## Players G A PTS +/- SH PIM
16 Garett Soparlo 1 0 1 1 2 0
0 Cleve Len 0 0 0 0 0 0
13 Jason Wagar 0 0 0 1 2 2
12 Brent Twordik 1 0 1 0 2 0
11 Mason Wallin 0 0 0 0 8 0
10 Matt Girling 0 0 0 0 3 2
9 Keegan Mcavoy 0 1 1 0 2 0
6 Brett Dickie 0 0 0 1 0 0
5 Evan Schafer 0 0 0 0 3 2
4 Scott Roy 0 0 0 0 1 2
17 Alekcei Mcavoy 0 1 1 1 0 0
18 Derek Endicott 0 0 0 0 2 0
19 Brad Erickson 0 0 0 0 1 0
20 Brett Novak 0 0 0 0 5 0
21 Mark Hinz 0 0 0 1 1 4
23 Jeff Schmidt 0 0 0 0 3 0
24 Colin Patterson 0 0 0 0 3 0
25 Curtis Austring 0 0 0 0 0 2
30 Russel Monette 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 2 2 4 5 38 14
## Players G A PTS +/- SH PIM
4 Jarrett Winn 0 0 0 0 2 2
8 Brad Zanon 0 0 0 0 0 2
7 Steve Bunney 0 0 0 0 0 0
11 Chris Curran 0 0 0 0 1 0
12 Darrell May 0 0 0 0 1 10
13 Mike Gough 0 0 0 0 2 4
14 Chad Grisdale 0 0 0 0 1 2
15 Stephane Gervais 0 0 0 0 0 4
16 Mitch Bartley 0 0 0 0 1 2
17 Lance Morrison 0 0 0 0 2 2
18 Jon Kress 0 0 0 0 2 0
19 Jordan Beirnes 0 0 0 0 0 0
20 Jeff Lynch 0 0 0 0 2 2
22 Ashley Todd 0 0 0 0 1 0
24 Kevin Seibel 0 0 0 0 2 4
25 Matt Schneider 0 0 0 0 1 2
26 Dalton Pajak 0 0 0 0 0 10
27 Scott Lynch 0 0 0 0 2 0
29 Marc Desloges 0 0 0 0 1 0
30 Francois Thuot 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 0 0 0 0 21 46
## Goalie(s) GS W-L-T MIN GA SAVES
31 Jeff Harvey 1 win 60:00 0 21
## Goalie(s) GS W-L-T MIN GA SAVES
31 Gerry Festa 1 loss 58:17 2 36
