The Briercrest Clippers controlled the first 34 minutes of Saturday afternoon's rematch versus the Augustana Vikings, but the visitors were able to come away with a weekend sweep.

Connor Dobberthien was tested early in the first period, making a spectacular save to deny the Vikings the early lead. Briercrest's disciplined play yielded some tangible results midway through the frame, as the visitors took two penalties in quick succession and Briercrest capitalized on both to take a 2-0 lead. Brett Lafond and Aaron Armstrong set up Matt Landers for his first goal as a Clipper to open the scoring. The second goal began on a timely pinch by Erik Robitaille, who kept the puck in the offensive zone long enough for Josh Anderson to rifle it past the Augustana goaltender. The visitors got a surge of adrenaline at finding themselves down by two, but were unable to do much with it and Briercrest carried the lead into the first break.

The second period was very hard fought, with both teams finishing checks and skating tirelessly. In a sequence Briercrest will do well to forget quickly, Augustana put a series of pucks past Dobberthien on a variety of screens and tips to take a commanding 5-2 lead. 

The third period saw Briercrest win plenty of small battles, including an introduction to the glass by Mark Mackinnon that will make the bus ride home a little less comfortable for an Augustana forward. Braydon Garth made his debut in net for Briercrest midway through, and passed an early test on a threatening two-on-one rush. The visitors would add one more to cap the game at 7-2.

Vikings' head coach Blaine Gusdal was very impressed with what he saw from Briercrest throughout the weekend. "There are certain teams out there, that if you get up on them, you know that they might roll over- these guys never do. They play with a lot of heart, a lot of skill." 

Players of the game were Matt Landers for Briercrest and Logan Sproule for Augustana. The Clippers head to Concordia next weekend.

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