By Kyle Legouffe

The Briercrest men’s hockey team played game 18 of the season as they took on the NAIT Ooks. Briercrest was looking to gain their first win of the season, but came up short. The final score was 8-1 for NAIT.

First year head coach Dalton Stoltz has been working with this very young squad over the past couple of months and is also looking to gain his first career ACAC win behind the bench.

The opening 20 had a fast and furious pace to it as both teams came out with a jump in their step. NAIT enjoyed the only power play of the period as Josh McGuire took a minor penalty for closing his hand on the puck. The Ooks did not score while a man up but did generate quality-scoring chances. NAIT was able to net three goals behind Jesse Chenard and they all came even strength. The third goal was a shot from the point that Chenard had no chance on as he was screened in front of the net. At the buzzer there was a scrum in the corner that resulted in offsetting penalties for roughing after the whistle. For NAIT, Blaine Bokenfohr and Tyler French were the recipients and for Briercrest Lucas Ford and Ryan Petersen took the penalties. The shot count in the period favoured NAIT by a total of 17-1.

The middle stanza saw more hitting and rough stuff. NAIT was able to pot three more goals in the frame as they took a 6-0 lead into the dressing room after 40. Two of the three goals were scored on the power play as Ryan Petersen was in the box for both goals scored while NAIT was up a man. He took the first penalty for tripping then 2:35 later he was back in the sin bin for roughing. NAIT owned the shot department as well in the period as they outshot Briercrest 22-4 and had a 39-5 shot lead after 40 minutes.

The final frame was one that showed a lot of rough stuff and bitterness, as both teams did not like each other. Briercrest was able to spoil the shutout, as Kyle Golz was able to pick up his first career ACAC goal. The ref had to make plenty of trips to the timekeepers box as he handed out plenty of penalties. Manuel Schellenberg was taken down along the boards with a questionable hit, and that resulted in both the NAIT player and Schellenberg getting the gate and hitting the showers. The Ooks dominated the shot clock as they directed tons of rubber the way of Chenard. NAIT also had the edge on the score board as they were able to take the game by the score of 8-1. 

The player of the game award was given to Josh Dufresne of Briercrest and Andy Willigar of NAIT.

Now with the first two games of second semester over the men will turn their attention to the Keyano Huskies as they will come to town next weekend. This will be an opportunity for Briercrest to gain their first victory of the season.