Ab SchThe Bears hockey team started its search for a third consecutive national title this past weekend, splitting their opening games against the Lethbridge Pronghorns, winning 2-0 on Friday and losing 3-2 in double overtime the following night.
Friday night’s opener was a low scoring affair, with both teams unable to find the net through the first two periods, but with the Bears holding the overall shot advantage, 20-16.
Both Pronghorns goalie Dylan Tait and his counterpart Luke Siemens stood tall, with Tait especially making some excellent saves to keep his team in the game.
Bears head coach Serge Lajoie said his team took a little while to find their footing in the first game.
“It took a while to find our groove and get going,” Lajoie said.
“We’re still in the early stages of figuring out what kind of team we are.”
The Bears broke through in the third period, with Jordan Hickmott beating Tait through a screen to put his team up one.
After that, the Bears were able to play solid shutdown defense, killing a penalty and holding the Pronghorns at bay, with Riley Keiser adding an empty net goal with under a minute left, making the final 2-0.
Lajoie thought his team’s effort improved over the course of the game.
“Every period we got stronger and stronger,” Lajoie said.
The second game was a different story, with the Bears dominating the game, firing 53 shots at the Pronghorns’ net, but ultimately falling short of a victory.
The Bears were able to jump out to a first period lead on Saturday, with captain Kruise Reddick jumping on a loose puck in the crease and putting it home, staking his team to a 1-0 lead.
After getting a goal from Rhett Rachinski to put them up 2-0, the Bears stumbled, and allowed the Pronghorns to claw their way back into the game. Goals from Ryon Moser and Tim Campbell evened the score heading into the third. Excellent play from Tait kept the score level, and the game headed to overtime.
Tait continued to stand on his head during the overtime period, stopping all 17 shots the Bears directed his way. The Pronghorns managed only five shots in that same period.
A fluke play in the second overtime ended up giving the Pronghorns the win. The puck was cleared from the Pronghorns end, with both the Pronghorns’ Campbell and the Bears’ Siemens racing towards the puck. Campbell was able to win the race, and easily deposited the puck into the yawning cage, giving his team a victory.
Despite the loss, Lajoie praised his team’s effort during the game.
“When you asses the performance of our guys, I could not critique the effort,” Lajoie said.
“Sometimes you run into a hot goalie… and that was the difference between us getting only one point of a possible two.”
The Pronghorns have finished at the bottom of the Canada West standings the past two years, but played the Bears tough all weekend. Lajoie spoke about the fact that there is no such thing as an easy win in Canada West.
“From a coach’s standpoint, I’m happy with a tough weekend, it shows that attention to detail is important,” Lajoie said. “The reality is, we get everybody’s best game.”
Lajoie said he was very complementary of the Pronghorns’ performance over the weekend as well.
“They’re a hard working team,” Lajoie said. “The nature of both games allowed them to stay disciplined within their structure.”
The Bears will now take to the road to face the Regina Cougars, who split their opening games against the Manitoba Bisons, while the Pronghorns will look to build on their win when they take on the Saskatchewan Huskies.
