Trojans edged by Clippers
CARONPORT, SASK., (Feb. 23, 2019) — Give credit where credit is due.
That's what SAIT Trojans men's hockey coach Brent Devost did Saturday afternoon following his team's surprising 4-3 loss at the hands of the host Briercrest College Clippers in their Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) matinee affair played in Caronport, Sask.
"We didn't get that extra bounce, but I can't fault our effort today. I can't pick on any one part of our game; I thought we played hard," Devost said. "Briercrest has a good goalie and they have good team speed. Give them credit."
SAIT falls to 17-9 on the season, while the win catapults the Clippers to a 6-19-1 record.
Colton McCarthy (3rd year, Salmon Arm, BC, Geographic Information Systems) scored twice for the Trojans, while teammate Eric Krienke (2nd year, Calgary, Business Administration) added the team's third goal.
Sam Lawson, Josh Boelema, Joshua Mitton and Halen Cordoni each tallied for the Clippers.
Trojans goalie Jordan Cartney (2nd year, Calgary, Business Administration) allowed four goals on 22 shots to lose his first game in six outings this season.
Clippers goalie Dan Dekoning was busy all game, turning aside 56 shots to earn the victory.
SAIT will return to the ice next weekend in their final regular season series of the year when they meet the University of Alberta-Augustana Vikings in a home-and-home series.
How they fair in the series will determine their playoff position, but Devost is not concerned about that.
"Usually, we pay attention to that for about an hour at the start of the year when you set your goals, but beyond that, you just want to go 1-0 every time out," he explained. "It's easy to justify a bye with talk about rest, and it's easy to justify playing that first-round series with talk about wanting to stay sharp. Wherever we end up will be the best place we thought we'd be in."