Trojans season ends with double OT win over NAIT

February 23, 2019

EDMONTON, ALTA., (Feb. 23, 2019) — The season ended on a winning note for the SAIT Trojans women's hockey team.

 

Tashel Scantlebury (4th year, Fox Warren, Man., Civil Engineering Technology) scored twice, her second coming in double overtime to beat the host NAIT Ooks 4-3 in their Saturday night Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) game played in Edmonton.

 

Despite the win over the first-place Ooks, SAIT finishes their season at 7-16-1 and in fifth place – out of the playoff picture for the second-straight season.

 

Their final record was the same as the Olds College Broncos, who lost 2-0 to MacEwan University on Saturday, but SAIT fell short on the tiebreaker due to winning less games in regulation than the Broncos.

 

And it's not like the Trojans didn't try. In five of their last six second half losses, the games were decided by just one goal. And in their final weekend, the Trojans recorded three out of a possible four points from the first-place Ooks, who finish atop the ACAC table at 19-2-3

 

In Saturday's contest, SAIT spotted the Ooks a 3-0 lead before they finally got going in the second period.

 

Kelsey Patterson (1st year, Castlegar, BC, Civil Engineering Technology) got the Trojans on the board by going to the net and banging in a loose puck as she was falling to the ice.

 

The goal was Patterson's ninth of the season, which put the rookie forward fourth in the league in that category.

 

Scantlebury's first of the game came in the third period by sheer hustle. While killing a penalty, the fourth-year blueliner raced off the bench and across the ice to make a nice play to stop NAIT's attack and keep the puck in the Ooks' zone.

 

The puck went into the corner, where Patterson picked it up, skated around a fallen NAIT defender and found Scantlebury on the doorstep for the easy tap-in.

 

SAIT tied it up minutes later by crashing the net again, this time it was Karmen Mooney (4th year, Squamish, BC, Construction Project Management) who scored with 5:31 left in the period to send the game to overtime.

 

After five minutes of four-on-four play solved nothing, the teams went to five minutes of three-on-three play.

 

In the second overtime, NAIT took a penalty for goalie interference to put the Trojans up a skater.

 

It didn't take long for the road team to finish things as the puck found its way to Scantlebury off the draw. She assessed the play, and then skated towards the net firing the puck top corner, raising her arms immediately to celebrate the bittersweet victory.

 

Megan LeBlanc scored twice for NAIT, while Carlin Boey scored once.