Briercrest clearly had been working hard over the Christmas break as they came out extremely strong coming into this game against Augustana. With returning player #9 Taylor Epp taking the ice along with a previously hurt #10 Dirk de Waal, the top line was destined to take the first goal just 34 seconds in as #19 Stephen Langford put one past Augustana. It didn’t take long for Augustana to respond getting two goals in the first ten minutes of the hockey game. Mid-way through the 1^st period Augustana took a bad roughing penalty putting Briercrest onto the power play. A chaotic scramble in front of the net allowed #22 Braden Whitehawk and Langford to cycle the puck to an open de Waal who shoveled Breircrest’s second past Augustana 12:41 into the 1^st period. Before the end of the period an unfortunate give away for Briercrest left Augustana sprinting in for their third goal. Briercrest went into the dressing room down by one but with high hopes of continuing to play strong in the second.

While the opportunites were equal for both sides, Augustana was able to pull ahead in the 2^nd period. Just over ten minutes into the period Augustan put their fourth goal past Briercrest Goaltender #30 Christian Mueller. The hefty sized crowd inside Briercrest’s Barkman Arena continued to cheer on Clipper Nation, but Briercrest was unable to put another past Augstana’s goalie. With just over a minute left in the period Augustana once again scored, putting Briercrest down by three.

The 3^rd period saw a tired Briercrest team fall short of a victory as they kicked off the second half of their season. Augustana opened up the scoring of the period five minutes into the period. With just over ten minutes left in the 3^rd a wide open #17 Manuel Shellenberg put it up high on Augustana goalie after he was fed by #7 Jacob Baribeau, putting Briercrest back by only three goals. After multiple penalties for Briercrest late in the 3^rd, Augustana went onto the 5-on-3 power play. Shortly after Briercrest killed the 5-on-3 Augustana was able to capitalize as Briercrest was still one man short. An unfortunate end result for the Briercrest team, who came into the game looking red hot after a long Christmas break. Final score was 7-3 for the Augustana Vikings. Shots on net Augustana 40 and Briercrest 36.

Players of the game: Briercrest’s #19 Stephen Langford with 1 goal and 1 assist, Augustana’s #97 Adam Johnon with 2 goals.

Briercrest will face Augustana again tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 pm in the Barkman Arena. You will be able to see a live stream at www.sportscanada.tv or find updates on the Briercrest Hockey Facebook page.