Trojans beaten at home by NAIT
CALGARY, (Feb. 16, 2019) — The result wasn't what they wanted, but the SAIT Trojans men's hockey team will store the information gained for a later date.
The Trojans faced off against their longtime rivals the NAIT Ooks on Saturday night Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) action at SAIT's Campus Centre, with the Edmontonians coming out on top by a wide 6-2 margin. A night earlier, the Ooks blanked SAIT 2-0 in their own rink.
"It's our first sweep at the hands of someone else, and I think we can learn a lot from how those guys play," said Trojans head coach Brent Devost. "When they had us down, they went for the throat. We had a couple of pushbacks, but it wasn't enough."
SAIT falls to 16-7 on the year, while the Ooks move to 20-6.
The Ooks started the scoring with two late goals in the first period. Brandon Ralph beat Trojans goalie Payton Lee (2nd year, Cranbrook, BC, Power and Process Operations) with 1:16 left on the clock, and Jake Mykitiuk added another with 40 seconds left to take a 2-0 lead into the first intermission.
Shane Fraser gave NAIT a 3-0 lead 2:31 into the second period before the Trojans finally responded 33 seconds later.
Colton McCarthy (3rd year, Salmon Arm, BC, Geographic Information Systems) scored to cut the lead to 3-1 and give the Trojans a bit of a boost. It didn't last long, however, as NAIT restored their three-goal lead when Brayden Harris scored to make it 4-1.
The Trojans cut the lead in half 15 minutes later when Connor McCallum (3rd year, Strathmore, Alta., Bachelor of Business Administration) found the back of the net.
Another late goal, this time by NAIT's Devon McAndrews with just 19 seconds left in the middle frame seemed to deflate the Trojans.
Ooks forward Tanner Dunkle added the only goal of the third period to round out the scoring.
"We had some push back in that second period, but when they got that fifth one, it let the air out of our sails a bit," Devost admitted. "Overall, we didn't pack it in. It could have been worse. . . Hopefully we'll see them again in a few weeks come playoff time."
The Trojans return to the ice this week on Wednesday when they take on the host MacEwan Griffins at 6pm in a makeup game from late January, and then next weekend with a pair of games on the road against the host Briercrest College Clippers - Friday night at 6pm, and Saturday afternoon at 1pm.