Courtesy of host organizing committee
SASKATOON (CIS) – The tournament host University of
Saskatchewan Huskies dominated the Windsor Lancers 9-0 Saturday
night in front of an enthusiastic crowd of 7,241 at Credit Union
Centre to qualify for the CIS men’s hockey national final for
the first time since 2005.
The University Cup will be on the line Sunday at 1:30 p.m. local
time (3:30 p.m. ET) when the fifth-seeded Huskies (2-0) face their
archrivals, the top-ranked Alberta Golden Bears (2-0), live on
Sportsnet and on the web at www.cis-sic.tv.
Alberta holds the all-time mark of 13 CIS men’s hockey titles and will skate in the 19th championship match, another record, while Saskatchewan claimed its lone banner in 1983 and will compete for CIS gold for the sixth time.
The two Canada West opponents have faced off in the title game only once in the past, on March 28, 2005, when the Bears erased a 3-1 third period deficit in front of the second-largest crowd in University Cup history – 10,331 - at Rexall Place in Edmonton to prevail 4-3 in overtime. In was also the only previous final between CWUAA rivals.
“The guys really wanted it tonight. If we offer this kind of performance tomorrow, you never know, anything can happen. We’ll have to be at our best, that’s for sure. Alberta is a formidable opponent,” said Saskatchewan head coach Dave Adolph, who was part of the Huskies’ triumph as a player in 1983 and whose troops are 0-5 overall this season against the Bears.
Eight different players scored for the Huskies, including Canada West player of the year Derek Hulak with a pair, and Kendall McFaull, Andrew Bailey, Craig McCallum, John Lawrence, Ryan McDonald, Joshua Roach and Cody Smuk with singles.
Hulak (2-1-3) and McCallum (1-2-3) had three-point nights, while Jesse Ross picked up four assists.
Ryan Holfeld made 19 saves to earn the shutout. At the other end of the ice, Parker Van Buskirk turned aside 25 pucks.
Saskatchewan led 2-0 after the first period and 6-0 after 40 minutes.
The Huskies opened the scoring at 8:42 of the first. Ross
controlled the puck in the corner and centered a pass that found
the stick of McFaull whose wrist shot from the point beat Van
Buskirk through a screen.
Ross set up the Huskies third goal by using his speed to beat a
Lancer defenceman down the left wing. He cut hard to the net and
created a rebound opportunity that Hulak calmly put away for his
second goal of the night. Ross also drew assists on
Saskatchewan’s fifth and sixth goals.
“It’s certainly not the outcome we had hoped
for,” said Windsor bench boss Kevin Hamlin, whose OUA
champion Lancers were making their first CIS championship
appearance since 1999. “To be perfectly honest we probably
had several guys in our dressing room who had this been a regular
season game wouldn’t have played due to injury. It’s
been a real grind for our guys the last several weeks and I
couldn’t be more proud of our guys.”
Hulak was named the Huskies player of the game for the second
straight night.
“[I am] Just trying to do whatever I can to help the team
win,” said Hulak, the tournament leading scorer heading into
the final with three goals and two helpers.
“This is what you dream about when you come to
university,” said Bailey. “I’ve always wanted to
play for a national championship and now I have the
opportunity.”
GAME NOTES: Saskatchewan, which finished first in Pool B, had defeated Acadia 3-2 on Friday, while Windsor (1-1) beat Acadia 4-2 on Thursday... In Pool A, Alberta edged McGill 3-2 in double overtime on Saturday afternoon after defeating Carleton 3-2 on Thursday.
SCORING SUMMARY
FIRST PERIOD
1. SSK Kendall McFaull (1) (Jesse Ross, Derek Hulak), 8:42
2. SSK Derek Hulak (2) (Craig McCallum, Connor Cox), 10:49 PP
PENALTIES:
Quakenbush (WSR) roughing, 9:21;
Suer (SSK) high sticking, 14:46;
Hobbs (SSK) checking from behind, 10-minute misconduct, 17:43;
Beaudoin (WSR) holding, 20:00.
SECOND PERIOD
3. SSK Derek Hulak (3) (Jesse Ross, Brennan Bosch), 4:41
4. SSK Andrew Bailey (1) (Craig McCallum), 6:07
5. SSK Craig McCallum (1) (Jesse Ross, Matthew Delahey), 12:21
6. SSK John Lawrence (1) (Jesse Ross), 17:58
PENALTIES:
Christou (WSR) checking from behind, 10-minute misconduct,
8:28;
Smuk (SSK) 10-minute misconduct, 15:13.
THIRD PERIOD
7. SSK Ryan McDonald (1) (unassisted), 9:26
8. SSK Joshua Roach (1) (Cody Smuk), 13:03
9, SSK Cody Smuk (2) (Zak Stebner, Joshua Roach), 18:20 PP
PENALTIES:
Spafford (SSK) charging, 15:26;
McDonnell (WSR) slashing, 17:05.
GOALS (by period)
SSK 2-4-3: 9
WSR 0-0-0: 0
SHOTS ON GOAL (by period)
SSK 10-13-11: 34
WSR 3-7-9: 19
POWER PLAY:
SSK 2-4
WSR 0-3
GOALTENDERS
SSK – Ryan Holfeld (W, 2-0, 19 shots, 19 saves, 0 GA,
60:00)
WSR – Parker Van Buskirk (L, 1-1, 34 shots, 25 saves, 9 GA,
60:00)
PLAYERS OF THE GAME:
SSK: Derek Hulak
WSR: Richard Cameron
REFEREES: Pascal St. Jacques, Todd Thomander
LINESMEN: Ryan Lundquist, Kelsey Mahoney
ATTENDANCE: 7241
START: 7:08
END: 9:29
LENGTH: 2:21
POOL STANDINGS, SCHEDULE & RESULTS (LOCAL TIME)
Pool A standings (FINAL)
GP W L GF GA PTS
1. ALB 2 2 0 6 4 4
2. McG 2 1 1 5 5 2
3. CAR 2 0 2 4 6 0
Pool B standings (FINAL)
1. SSK 2 2 0 12 2 4
2. WSR 2 1 1 4 11 2
3. ACA 2 0 2 4 7 0
Thursday, March 20
13:00 Pool A #1: Alberta 3, Carleton 2
19:00 Pool B #1: Windsor 4, Acadia 2
Friday, March 21
13:00 Pool A #2: McGill 3, Carleton 2
19:00 Pool B #2: Saskatchewan 3, Acadia 2
Saturday, March 22
14:00 Pool A #3: Alberta 3, McGill 2 (2OT)
19:00 Pool B #3: Saskatchewan 9, Windsor 0
Sunday, March 23
13:30 Final: No. 1 Alberta vs. No. 5 Saskatchewan (Sportsnet &
www.CIS-SIC.tv)
* The webcasts of the 3 televised games will be on pay-per-view basis.
About Canadian Interuniversity Sport
Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Every year, 11,000 student-athletes and 700 coaches from 55 universities and four regional associations vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. CIS also provides high performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, as well as numerous world university championships. For further information, visit www.cis-sic.ca or follow us on:
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