By Kyle Legouffe

The Briercrest Men’s hockey team has opened second semester on the road as they took on the NAIT Ooks. The team had additions in the line-up, as Morgan McNeill, Aaron From, Kendall Hart, Kyle Golz and Lucas Ford made their 2012-2013 ACAC debuts.

This is game number 17 for Briercrest and they are now looking to gain their first win when they play an afternoon tilt with the NAIT Ooks tomorrow at 2pm. Coach Dalton Stoltz is continuing his first season as the bench boss. The final score of the game was 6-0 NAIT.

The first 20 saw Briercrest come out with intensity as the new players in the line-up showed to provide a boost. Briercrest was the only team to enjoy a power play, which they could not generate many scoring opportunities. Goaltender Jesse Chenard was able to show what he has all year and that is making unbelievable saves. He faced 16 shots in the period with a majority of them quality-scoring chances. NAIT also hit three posts in the period but could not find a way to turn on the red light. The shots in the period favoured NAIT by the count of 16-2.

The middle frame saw NAIT come out and put all sorts of pressure on Briercrest. The Ooks directed 22 shots on Chenard and were able to tickle the twine three times. The first goal came just after Briercrest killed a high-sticking minor penalty to Kyle Golz as Tyler French was alone in the slot and roofed it over the shoulder of Chenard. The second goal came from a scramble at the side of the net as the puck squeaked loose from the pads of Chenard and Blaine Bokenfohr banged the puck in and the third goal was a shot from the point that beat Chenard glove side as Dante Borrelli was credited with the goal. The shots in the period were 22-2 for NAIT and after 40 minutes were 38-4.

The final stanza saw NAIT add three more goals as they showed why they are tops in the ACAC. Chenard stood on his head as he stopped 52 of the 58 shots he faced in the game. The game got chippy late as there was pushing and shoving after whistles. Offsetting minors were given out for roughing after a scrum after Chenard made a save. Briercrest’s Aaron From left the ice late in the period as he collided with a NAIT Ooks defenseman right in front of the Briercrest bench. The other additions Kendall Hart, Lucas Ford and Kyle Golz seemed to look in place as they were in the Briercrest line-up for the first time this season. The shots in the frame were 20-2 for NAIT and the game total was 58-6.

The player of the game award was handed out to Jesse Chenard of Briercrest and Jesse Koch of NAIT.

These two teams will be back at it tomorrow afternoon at 2pm. Tune into Facebook to get intermission updates and find out how Briercrest is doing.