Briercrest Closes Out the Regular Season with a Tight Loss to NAIT

By Sam and Jeremy Demoskoff

If you grabbed a popcorn and were a little late taking your seat for Saturday afternoon's rematch between the Briercrest Clippers and the NAIT Ooks, you missed quite a bit. 

A fast start by the guests saw three quick goals as the Ooks built a 3-0 lead just 1:46 into the game. 

The Clippers took a timeout to regain their composure and it yielded immediate dividends, as Josh Wiens and Caleb Grandfield set up Reagan Poncelet for a goal just twelve seconds later. The crowd roared and we had ourselves a hockey game.

The physical play ramped up and every inch of ice was tightly contested. Trey Doell knocked over a pair of Ooks with a clean hit to set the tone for the hosts. And just as he has been all season, Dominik Tmej was sharp in net as NAIT tried in vain to extend their lead. 

Briercrest put themselves in a tough spot with a full two minute 5 on 3 penalty kill, but the defenders kept the Ooks to the perimeter and allowed no further scoring for the remainder of the first period.

NAIT continued to press in the second period, and they were rewarded by a pair of goals to take a 5-1 lead.

Looking for a strong finish to their regular season, Briercrest charged out of the gate to start the final frame. Halen Cordoni, Zach Anderson, and Jacob Arsenault dished out a series of hits as the Clippers continued to make things interesting. Kolter Pawlick made some great saves in relief, and Briercrest's forwards hit two posts and a crossbar before Caleb Dolman lasered a shot past NAIT's Taryn Kotchorek. It would be the final tally for the Clippers as the clock wound down on a 5-2 defeat.

The Clippers were resolute despite the result, and they certainly deserved to be. "I liked our compete level- we battled to the end," reflected Reagan Poncelet afterwards. "The first two minutes, if you take that away, it's a 2-2 hockey game… little mental lapses but it's nothing that we can't control ourselves, so that's a positive."

Head coach Brad Cole shared his thoughts as the regular season came to an end with a playoff spot clinched: "The end result [today] wasn't what we desired, but ultimately we're in the playoffs, which is what our goal was at the start of the season. We've faced adversity, and it's a nice reward for the guys that have put in a lot of time here."

Player of the game for Briercrest was Trey Doell, while Sam DeMelo took the honours for NAIT.

The Clippers will head to Red Deer next weekend for the first round of the playoffs against the Kings. Catch their games on ACAC's streaming service and show your support.