Kings Nolan Doell scores a hat trick in a victory over the Voyageurs

Red Deer, January 27, 2023 – The Red Deer Polytechnic Kings Hockey team finally found their winning form on home ice in 2023 with a dominant 6-3 performance over the Portage College Voyageurs.

The Kings struck early and fast. Within the first 30 seconds of the game, forward Nolan Doell (Bachelor of Education) would skate off the boards into the middle of the ice and would wrist it home for an early lead for his team. This was a great start for the Kings as they have yet to win at home in 2023 so far.

Earlier in this season in Lac la Biche, these two teams battled to a split weekend with the Kings winning the Friday night game but would fall in the afternoon on the following day.

With under two minutes to play, the Kings would extend their lead to two with a shorthanded goal scored by Doell and assisted by forward Ryland McNinch (Bachelor of Education). Doell was stopped on his initial attempt but jumped on the rebound to give the Kings a two-goal cushion after an amazing save by the Voyageurs goaltender Alex Brousseau. With the lead, the Kings also outshot their opponent 15-8.

The home team would open the scoring in the second with another powerplay goal on the double-minor penalty. Forward Deegan Mofford (Open Studies) jumped on a rebound given off by the Portage goaltender and would snap the puck in a hurry to give his team a three-goal lead.

The hats would fly as Doell scored his third of the game on yet another powerplay goal for the Kings. The Education-student found the open puck in the slot and would lift it over the Voyageurs goaltender as he was sprawled out on the ice.

The powerplay goals kept coming for RDP as forward Jacob Kendall (Bachelor of Education) finished off a beautiful pass by his teammate Jaxon Steele with a tap-in at the back of the net (Bachelor of Kinesiology) to put the Kings up with a commanding 5-0 lead.

The Voyageurs would finally get on the board after an odd-man rush led to forward Brayden Dale being wide open in front of the net to fire it past Kings goaltender Kristian Lyon (Business Administration General).

Seconds later, off a pass from the boards into the slot to forward Brody Dale, the Voyageurs would score their second in a row to come within three before the period ended.

At the end of the second, the Kings were still outshooting Portage College 27-12.

Kendall would add another point to his night tally with a powerplay goal ending 14 minutes of no goals in the third period.

The Voyageurs would add their third on the night after a faceoff win in their zone led to a point shot being tipped in by forward Shaye Sommerfeld. But that wasn't enough as the Kings walked away with a 6-3 victory.

With a hat trick on the night, forward Nolan Doell for the Kings was named the player of the game for his team, and Voyageurs Brayden Dale was given the honour for his team with one goal.

These two teams will rematch one another at 1 pm in Red Deer tomorrow.