By Kyle Legouffe

Briercrest has one weekend before they are off for Christmas break. The SAIT Trojans are in town for two games. The men are looking to gain their first win of the season.

The game tonight was one that showed intensity and heart from both sides, as they wanted to end 2012 on a good note. Briercrest lost by a score of 11-2. Coach Dalton Stoltz is also looking to enter the win column as he is in his first year behind the bench in the ACAC. These two teams will be back at it tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 pm here at Barkman Arena. Briercrest will look to gain at least one win before the end of the 2012 portion of the season.

The first period saw Briercrest come out with jump in their step as they were taking the body and playing hard. Briercrest opened the scoring with Manuel Schellenberg receiving a gorgeous pass from Austin Rock as he was cutting through the middle of the ice. It was about 10 minutes later when SAIT tied the game up with a shot from the point. There were four penalties called in the frame with both teams receiving two. The period ended in a 1-1 tie.

The middle frame saw SAIT come out and open the floodgates as they opened up a 6-1 lead. Briercrest was able to make it 6-2 as Luke Robitaille banged in a rebound in front of the net that was a result of a shot from the point from Pierre Landry. The Trojans came back and were able to avenge their five goal lead as they made it 7-2. The penalties in the period were three for SAIT and two for Briercrest. SAIT was able to make good on their extra man opportunities. 

The final 60 saw Briercrest come out with more intensity as they had a huge hill to climb. They were down 7-2 coming into the period and by the end buried by goals, as the final score was 11-2. SAIT’s Travis Bradshaw was able to net the final of his five goals that he had in the game. Players did not attend the penalty box often, as there was only one penalty in the stanza. The minor infraction went to SAIT and it was for unsportsmanlike conduct. Jesse Chenard was pulled after the eighth goal and Christian Mueller came in between the pipes. Mueller had three goals go past him and two came as SAIT was shorthanded. The final shot count for the game was 58-10 in favour of SAIT.

The player of the game awards went to Luke Robitaille of Briercrest with one goal and one assist and Travis Bradshaw of SAIT who potted five goals.

Tomorrow will mark the last game of 2012, as Briercrest and SAIT will battle at 2:00 pm at the Barkman Arena. Come on out and support the hometown team, or follow along on Facebook on the Briercrest Hockey page (http://www.facebook.com/briercrest.hockey) and online at http://sportscanada.tv/index.php/ccaatv/acactv/acacmhk to watch live.