Trojans head into break feeling good
EDMONTON, ALTA., (Nov. 17, 2018) — Finally, some good news for the SAIT Trojans women's hockey team.
The Trojans scored twice in the final period to beat the host MacEwan University Griffins 3-2 in their Saturday night Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) game played at the Downtown Community Arena in Edmonton, Alta. It's SAIT's second win in 12 games this season.
"It's been a frustrating year," said Trojans head coach Kelsey Leifson. "We have a few small victories, but we are still trusting the process. Yeah, it can be hard to not get the results you want, but tonight we played the game exactly the way we need to play it and we were rewarded for it."
SAIT moves to 2-10 on the season, while the two-time defending champion Griffins fall to 9-3.
The win was the final game of the first semester for the Trojans, who will pick up play again in January. Finishing off on a high note was key, Leifson added.
"We didn't want to go into the break feeling bad about ourselves," she said. "I think we all just had enough, so we decided to throw together a full 60 minutes of hockey."
The Griffins scored the first goal of the game 5:59 into the first period when Jordyn Reimer beat Trojans goalie Elisha Oswald (3rd year, Waldersee, Man., Health Information Management).
SAIT then scored three straight goals – the first coming towards the end of the first period when Shea Dolan (3rd year, Rimbey, Alta., Business Administration) scored her third goal in her past five games to tie the game.
The final two came in the third period.
Davina McLeod (3rd year, Aklavik, NWT, Academic Upgrading) broke the 1-1 tie with 13:10 left in the game when she was sent in on a breakaway and made no mistake.
After watching her team miss three first-period breakaways in Friday's 6-2 loss to the Griffins, seeing McLeod pot the go-ahead goal was a sight for sore eyes.
"Tonight, the Hockey Gods gave us a break, and she made a great move," Leifson said. "Anytime she gets sent in on a breakaway, you start celebrating early. It was her first goal as a Trojan, so hopefully this opens the floodgates for her."
Kelsey Patterson scored her third goal in as many games, firing the puck into an empty net goal to give her team some insurance.
It was a good thing, as the Griffins stormed back and cut the lead to one with just 55 seconds left when Jaime Erickson scored on the power play.
SAIT was then able to run out the clock before swarming Oswald, who made 33 saves in the win.
When the Trojans return to the ice in January, it will be Jan. 10 and 12 against the Olds College Broncos.
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