Briercrest Prevails in Playoff Opener Against NAIT

by Sam and Jeremy Demoskoff

One down, one to go… The Briercrest Clippers kicked off the playoffs the way they intended, defeating the NAIT Ooks in a gritty 6-5 victory that underlined their expectations this year- they are here to contend for the championship.

Hosting their very first ACAC playoff series, Briercrest knew that beating the defending champion Ooks- the most successful team in league history with 17 titles to their name- would not be an easy task. But hard work is one of the primary characteristics of the Clippers, and they maintained an exhausting pace as they attacked in waves and jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on goals from Campbell Ens and player of the game Alex Pellerin. 

NAIT climbed back in the game in the second period with a four goal outburst that was aided by some penalty trouble on Briercrest's part. The Ooks player of the game, Keaton Holinaty, then scored his second of the night early in the third period and it was looking grim with the guests up 5-3. 

The Clippers kept on working, though- and it was a couple of veteran players who struck as Halen Cordoni scored to cut the lead to one, and Reagan Poncelet tipped home a Landon Russell blast to tie the game with 8 minutes left in regulation. Barkman arena was electric and it was essentially overtime from that point on.

End to end action ensued as both teams looked for one more goal. After a rebound was up for grabs off of NAIT's Taryn Kotchorek, Jake Dale outbattled his man and sent the puck to Theo Citrullo, who had some space in the slot. He spun and ripped a no-look shot top corner over the glove of Kotchorek, and the Clippers closed out the 6-5 victory to the delight of the large crowd.

"It's very difficult on teams to come into the Barkman with the way that we're playing," explained Poncelet afterward. "It's intensity for 60 minutes or longer- whatever we need… We're a team that puts our boots on and we go to work."

Their next task comes quickly, as they'll face off again Saturday night at 7:30 to try to finish off the series. Catch the game live at the Barkman or on ACAC's streaming service.