Saints march into Christmas break in top spot
By The Nelson Daily Sports
The Selkirk College Saints are assured of at least a share of first place in the BC Intercollegiate Hockey League standings after routing Eastern Washington University 10-1 Saturday at the Castlegar Recreation Complex.
The Saints scored early and often during a game where they out-shot their opponents by a margin of 55-13.
“Our starts at home have been very good all season and tonight may have been the best yet,” said Saints head coach Jeff Dubois.
“We set the tone with our speed and energy and took control of the game very early.”
Darnell Dyck opened the scoring for Selkirk less than three minutes into the first period when he stole the puck from an EWU defender and beat Eagles starter Jason Greenwell with a quick wrist shot from the low slot. And the Saints piled on from there, as Thomas Hardy, Cody Fidgett and Dylan Smith all scored to build a 4-0 lead by intermission.
Connor McLaughlin and Fidgett extended the Saints’ lead to six midway through the second before Tyler Mort put Eastern on the board off an odd-man rush. But Jackson Garrett replied minutes later to re-establish Selkirk’s six-goal lead.
Hardy and Smith each notched their second goals of the night in the third period before Fidgett capped the scoring with his hat trick goal late in the contest.
Greenwell made 17 first period saves before being relieved by Derek Moser, who allowed six goals on 36 shots over the remaining 40 minutes of action. James Prigione picked up his fourth win of the season in the Selkirk net with a 12-save effort.
“All four lines were rolling and were rewarded with goals, and we got some good offensive contributions from our blueline as well,” said Dubois.
“We weren’t pleased with our results in Victoria last weekend, but tonight was a very positive way to close out the first half of the season.”
The Saints now take an extended exam and holiday break through December and will return to the ice the week of January 6.
The team’s next game comes on Sunday, January 12th when North Dakota-based Williston State University visits Castlegar for an exhibition meeting.
Selkirk’s regular season schedule resumes on Friday, January 17 with a visit to Thompson Rivers University.
Selkirks improves to a 10-3-0 record, two points ahead of Thompson Rivers University and four points ahead of SFU.
Simon Fraser, however, have a pair of games remaining against Eastern Washington on December 6th and 7th.
SAINTS BANTER: Logan Proulx capped a tremendous fall semester with four assists against the Eagles and extended his season-long points streak to 13 games. The Selkirk captain currently leads all BCIHL skaters in assists with 20 and sits in a three-way tie for second place with 26 points. . . .The Saints also boast the league’s two top goals scorers in Cody Fidgett (18) and Connor McLaughlin (15).
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