Briercrest Drops a Heartbreaker in Overtime

Written by Sam Demoskoff

The Briercrest Clippers faced off against the Portage College Voyageurs for Friday night hockey action at the Barkman arena.

Briercrest won the opening faceoff and attempted to score quickly, with some great early forechecking. Keagon Little slammed a Voyageur into the boards and Jake Dale propelled the puck into the net for an early goal.

The Voyageurs raced down the ice to try to respond, but Kolter Pawlick was there to stop it. Cole Stevenson moved down the ice and made a big hit before tipping in a point shot to put the Clippers up 2-0. The Voyageurs weaved their way through the Briercrest defence in their quest to find the net, but Pawlick stuck out his leg just in time for a perfect save.

Jaedon Little sacrificed the body as play resumed in the second period and his effort paid off as Reagan Poncelet was able to snipe the puck past Alex Brousseau's blocker for a 3-0 lead. The Clippers seemed happy to be ahead, but the visiting team didn't quit and soon started creating some good chances. A breakaway by the Voyageurs forced Pawlick to make another save, and the momentum was beginning to turn in the guests' favour.

Some powerplay opportunities translated into two second-period goals for Portage, and they headed into the second intermission trailing the Clippers 3-2.

Briercrest tried hard to extend their lead, but some quality chances by Alex Pellerin and Campbell Ens were turned away and the defensive pairing of Landon Russell and Jeridyn Loewen had to be sharp to defuse several threatening plays.

The Voyageurs managed to tie things up on a powerplay goal, and Briercrest was unable to capitalize on a man-advantage of their own as the teams started the overtime period. Brayden Dale broke in on the right wing and roofed a backhand shot to complete the comeback for Portage with a 4-3 overtime victory.

Players of the game were Brayden Dale for Portage and Jake Dale for Briercrest.

"We're confident in what we can do," commented Jake Dale afterward. "We know if we play our game, no one can skate with us."

Catch tomorrow's rematch at 2:00pm.