Trojans rally in third to beat Ooks

CALGARY, ALTA., (Feb. 14, 2020) - The SAIT Trojans women's hockey team is not going away.

In the hunt for a playoff spot, the Trojans scored three times in the final 20 minutes of play to beat the visiting NAIT Ooks 3-2 in their Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) game played Friday night at SAIT Arena.

"It was nice to see our hard work pay off," said Trojans captain, Tashel Scantlebury (5th year, Foxwarren, Man., Community Economic Development). "We've been on the wrong end of a few one-goal games, so after practice Thursday we talked about trying to be on the right side of one for a change. Going into that third, we didn't have any doubt that we could do that, it was just a matter of getting that first one."

The good news is the win have moved SAIT's record to 5-15-1 on the season, tying them for points with the Olds College Broncos, who sit at 4-15-3.

By way of regulation wins, SAIT now has possession of that fourth and final playoff spot. As luck would have it, SAIT and Olds College meet in the final regular season series of the year next weekend, but Scantlebury isn't thinking about that just yet.

"Right now, our focus is Saturday and trying to get two more points from NAIT," she said of their rematch that goes at 7pm in Edmonton. "We'll deal with Olds next weekend."

After a scoreless first, the Trojans watched as NAIT scored twice - both by Meghan Leblanc - on goalie Kaylin Schellenberg (2nd year, Calgary, Business Administration) in the second period to take a 2-0 lead into the final frame.

Like Scantlebury said, all it took was one for the Trojans to get going, and that first one came from Aislynn Nachtegaele (2nd year, Edmonton, Alta., Health Fundamentals).

The blueliner fired a shot from the point that eluded NAIT goalie Kaitlyn Slator and sent the Trojans bench ablaze.

"To have a young defenceman come off the bench and put the puck in the net at a crucial time was huge," Scantlebury explained. "That's what this team is about - anyone stepping up any night."

Less than five minutes later, the Trojans tied it when Scantlebury found teammate Karmen Mooney (5th year, Squamish, BC, Construction Project Management) in the slot. The veteran didn't get all of it, but the puck did just enough to float past Slator to even the score.

Seven minutes later, Kelsey Patterson (2nd year, Castlegar, BC, Civil Engineering Technology) gave the Trojans their first lead of the game when she picked up a rebound from beside the net and jammed it in for the game-winner.

Because of SAIT's urgency in the final period, they dominated possession and allowed the Ooks just four shots, which Schellenberg turned aside. In all, she stopped 20 shots to pick up the win.