Trojans claw their way back to win Game 1

CALGARY, ALTA., (March 6, 2020) - The SAIT Trojans men's hockey team would not quit, and they were rewarded for it.

The Trojans came back from a pair of two-goal deficits before Jared Power notched the winner in double overtime as they beat the University of Alberta-Augustana Vikings 4-3 in Game 1 of their Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) best-of-three quarterfinal series Friday night at SAIT Arena.

"We have been in those situations a few more times than we would have liked, where we spiral down and end up losing," said Power (1st year, Calgary, Business Administration). "I think we really showed how we have learnt from the regular season and now know that we are a good team. We just stuck with it and stayed positive and things worked out."

The Trojans will not have long to celebrate the victory, as Game 2 is set for Saturday afternoon at 2:30pm in Camrose, Alta.

"It's a short turn around, but it's also a short turn around for them, too," said Trojans head coach Tyler Drader. "It's playoff time, so you have to dig deep and do whatever you can to win."

Game 3, if necessary, will go back at SAIT Arena on Sunday at 5pm.

The game started about as bad as possible for the Trojans. They surrendered two short-handed goals - from Carter Danczak and Travis Mayan - on the same penalty to give the Vikings a 2-0 lead just 6:20 into the game.

The Trojans were able to cut the lead to 2-1 early in the second period when Eric Krienke (3rd year, Calgary, Business Administration) beat Vikings goalie Zach Degraves just 85 seconds in.

Just over 17 minutes later, the Vikings regained their two-goal advantage when Mayan scored his second of the game, putting the puck off a sprawling Kyle Dumba (1st year, Calgary, Business Administration) and in.

Dumba shut the door the rest of the way, stopping 35 shots in the win.

"Dumba is a battler, and he's going to give you everything he's got every night," Drader stated. "He made some big saves for us tonight."

Much like the second period, it didn't take long for SAIT to cut the lead to one again. Just 48 seconds into the final frame, Jackson McKinstry (3rd year, Calgary, Bachelor of Business Administration) jammed a loose puck under the pad of Degraves to give his team some life.

"We just kept talking about getting greasy goals, and I'm not sure there's a more greasy goal than that. Just throw it on net, and crash," Drader said. "It was key because it gave our bench life."

The Trojans pushed the play for the remainder of the period, and finally tied the game when rookie blueliner Mark Drohan (1st year, Calgary, Academic Upgrading) came off the point and fired a shot on net that found its mark.

After the first overtime period solved nothing, the teams went to a second one. Four minutes in, the Vikings took a penalty when Quintin Sudom got called for slashing.

Just 14 seconds into the ensuing power play, Power received the puck just inside the blue line. He then skated to an open area and fired a shot on net that beat Degraves up high.

"As soon as they took the penalty, I went to Drohan and said, 'Let's just end it,'" Power explained. "It was simple play. Just put the puck on net and good things will happen. Thankfully, it did."