By Kyle Legouffe

The Briercrest men’s hockey team has two must win games this weekend to keep their mathematical playoff chances alive. It started tonight as they hosted the Concordia University College Thunder. The final score of the game was 6-1 for Concordia.

Briercrest has been making improvements all season, as they have had to deal with a rather young team as well as a new coach. The guys have had ups and downs all season but have come out every weekend and have battled. A big contribution for Briercrest has been fifth-year goaltender Jesse Chenard. He has been rock solid between the pipes and is now the owner of the all time saves record of the ACAC with 3459 saves. Chenard will increase this record as Briercrest has five games remaining on the schedule.

The first period saw Briercrest come out taking the body and trying to build momentum. Briercrest took three penalties in the period and that proved costly, as Concordia was able to score twice up a man. The Thunder took two penalties in the period and Briercrest was able to generate scoring opportunities but not able to put the puck in the net. Concordia was able to add one more goal before the end of the period to go into the locker room with the 3-0 lead. The shots in the period were 14-11 for Concordia.

The second frame had more body checks and intensity as both teams came out hard. Concordia was able to pot two in the period to take a 5-0 lead. Jesse Chenard played well between the pipes and made some spectacular saves. Briercrest had many scoring opportunities but could not solve Thunder goaltender Tanner Schalin. There were five penalties called in the stanza with three going to Concordia and two going to Briercrest. The shots in the period were Concordia 12 and Briercrest 10. The two period total was 26-21 for the Thunder.

The final stanza was one that saw Briercrest unable to overcome being down by five. Concordia was able to add one more to their total and came away with the win. Briercrest was able to get on the board, as Lucas Ford was the recipient of a pass from Jesse Chenard, Ford was able to break in and get the puck over the goal line. Chenard faced 11 more shots in the period and Briercrest was able to direct 10 shots on the Thunder net. The final score was 6-1 for Concordia and the shot total favoured the Thunder by the count of 37-31.

Number 25 Ian Hall was the player of the game for Concordia and 35 Jesse Chenard received the player of the game award for Briercrest.

These two teams will be back at it tomorrow at 2pm at Barkman Arena. Tune into www.sportscanada.tv for a live stream or the Briercrest Hockey Facebook page for intermission updates.