Trojans clipped at home

By SAIT Trojans student writer Colton Pankiw
CALGARY, ALTA (NOV. 18, 2022) The Briercrest College Clippers trailed the SAIT Trojans significantly in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) men's hockey standings entering Friday night, but you wouldn't have known it following the final whistle.

The Clippers came out flying in the first, and were quickly rewarded for their efforts as Jake Dale was able to put home the opening goal of the evening on a terrific pass from Brandon Kelly. It wasn't the ideal start for Trojans netminder Boston Bilous, though he quickly got settled in afterward, making several 10-bell saves to keep the score 1-0.

Bilous could only do so much, however, as the Clippers were able to make it 2-0 roughly 15 minutes into the opening frame, as Jacob Arsenault put a beautiful pass from behind the net onto the stick of Zachary Thususka, who made no mistake. That seemed to wake the Trojans up, as they started firing tons of pucks on Clippers goaltender Kolter Pawlick, but were unable to solve him and as a result entered the first intermission down two goals.

The Trojans came out with a much better pace to begin the second frame, and were soon rewarded with a power play for their efforts. Despite generating plenty of scoring chances on the man advantage, however, they continued to be shut down by Pawlick.

The failed opportunity would prove to be costly, as Curtis Wiebe was able to find himself in alone on Bilous midway through the second, and made no mistake, giving the Clippers a 3-0 lead. They nearly extended the lead to four minutes later as Daine Milgate came in alone on a breakaway, but was denied on a clutch stop from Bilous.

Later in the second, the Trojans received a bench minor and that seemed to light a bit of a fire under them. After they killed off the penalty, they were finally able to get their first of the night as Tanner Sidaway snuck one under the arm of Pawlick from the high slot.

Any hopes of Sidaway's goal sparking a comeback for the Trojans were short-lived, as Alex Pellerin and Reagan Poncelet struck early in the third to go up 5-1. The Trojans did continue to battle, however, and were able to make things interesting late in the third as both Brandon Machado and Chase Miller found the back of the net to make it a 5-3 game.

In line with how the entire evening went, however, the Clippers were able to respond less than 10 seconds after Miller's goal, as Zachery Ashworth followed up a rebound that came directly into the slot and fired it past the glove of Bilous to give his squad a 6-3 lead, which turned out to be the final in this one.

These two clubs will do the same thing over again tomorrow afternoon at 3:15pm at WinSport, with the Trojans hoping for a much better outcome.