Photo credit Mona Ghiz
HALIFAX (CIS) – The defending national champion and No. 1 ranked Alberta Golden Bears skated to a 5-1 win over the host StFX X-Men in CIS University Cup quarter-final action Friday night at Scotiabank Centre.
“We knew we were going to face a team with tonnes of energy,” Alberta head coach Ian Herbers said of the X-Men, who came in as the eighth seed in the tournament. “We weathered the storm and we played very well in the second and third periods.”
In front of more than 5,500 fans, the X-Men jumped to a 1-0 lead on a goal from Blake Gal at 7:54 of the first period. The junior forward completed a two-on-one breakaway with Michael Kirkpatrick, depositing a rebound behind Golden Bear goaltender Kurtis Mucha.
“We calmed down and we started to play our game,” Alberta captain Kruise Reddick said after the game of how the match-up unfolded.
With the X-Men on the power play late in the opening frame, the Golden Bears bounced back with the equalizer at the 18-minute mark. Jordan Hickmott ripped a shot behind Drew Owsley, with Canada West player of the year T.J. Foster collecting the lone assist.
“That goal was huge,” Foster, his team’s player of the game, said of the equalizer. “We got off to a slow start, so that really picked our team up.”
In a second period dominated by Alberta, they outshot StFX 15 to 1, while scoring two goals. At 1:18, Brennan Yadlowski scored from the point through traffic, with Colin Archer and Jamie Crooks garnering helpers.
Alberta doubled its lead at 15:27 of the second period, when Travis Toomey bounced one in from the side of the net. Stephane Legault notched the only assist.
“We started running around in our own zone and it took a toll on us,” X-Men captain and team player of the game Rob Slaney said.
“We tried to weather the storm, but they kept coming,” X-Men forward Michael Kirkpatrick added.
StFX head coach Brad Peddle said of the Golden Bears “we were not interested in going up and down the sheet with them.”
In the third period, Reddick made it 4-1 for Alberta, on assists from Toomey, with his second point of the game, and Dylan Bredo. Foster wrapped up the scoring with an unassisted marker at 12:08 of the third period.
Mucha made 12 saves for the win, while Owsley turned aside 29 shots in the loss.
With the win, the Golden Bears advance to semi-final Saturday, where they will play the fourth-seeded UQTR Patriotes at 4 p.m.
“We still have better,” Herbers said of his Golden Bears when asked about moving forward to the next round. At noon, the second-seeded UNB Varsity Reds will battle the Guelph Gryphons, the third seed in the national championship tournament.
The semi-finals winners will battle for the CIS University Cup title Sunday at 6:30 p.m. The bronze medal game will get underway Sunday at 2 p.m.
SCORING SUMMARY
FIRST PERIOD
1. StFX Blake Gal (1) (Michael Kirkpartrick), 07:54
2. ALB Jordan Hickmott (1) (T.J. Foster) 18:00 SH
PENALTIES:
Bredo (ALB) roughing, 04:13;
Slaney (StFX) interference, 08:20;
Crooks (ALB) roughing, 09:20;
O’Connor (StFX) roughing 09:20;
Derko (ALB) charging, 11:33;
Kieser (ALB) checking from behind 2 min, 17:43 (served by #21 Josh Derko)
Kieser (ALB) 10 minute misconduct 17:43
SECOND PERIOD
3. ALB Brennan Yadlowski (1) (Colin Archer, Jamie Crooks), 01:18
4. ALB Travis Toomey (1) (Stephane Legualt), 15:27
PENALTIES:
Koper, (ALB) cross checking, 19:48;
Slaney (StFX) cross checking, 19:48;
Lazo (ALB) roughing, 19:48;
Lewis (StFX) roughing, 19:48
THIRD PERIOD
5. ALB Kruise Reddick (1) (Travis Toomey, Dylan Bredo), 02:54
6. ALB T.J. Foster (1), 12:08
PENALTIES:
Archer (ALB) interference, 03:42;
GOALS (by period)
ALB 1-2-2: 5
StFX 1-0-0:1
SHOTS ON GOAL (by period)
ALB 9-15-10: 34
StFX 7-1-5:13
POWER PLAY:
ALB 0-1
StFX 0-4
GOALTENDERS
ALB – Kurtis Mucha (W, 1-0, 13 shots, 12 saves, 1 GA, 60:00)
StFX – Drew Owsley (L, 0-1, 34 shots, 29 saves, 5 GA, 60:00)
PLAYERS OF THE GAME:
ALB: Rob Slaney
StFX: T.J. Foster
Referees: Mario Maillet, Jonathan Alarie
Linesmen: Mike MacDonnell, Ben Dupuis
ATTENDANCE: 5504
START: 7:13 p.m.
END: 9:38 p.m.
LENGTH: 2:25
CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE & RESULTS (all times ATLANTIC TIME)
Thursday, March 12
13:00 Quarter-final 1: Guelph 3, Calgary 1
19:00 Quarter-final 2: UNB 6, Windsor 2
Friday, March 13
13:00 Quarter-final 3: UQTR 6, Acadia 5 (OT)
19:00 Quarter-final 4: Alberta 5, StFX 1
Saturday, March 14
12:00 Semifinal 1: No. 3 Guelph vs. No. 2 UNB
16:00 Semifinal 2: No. 4 UQTR vs. No. 1 Alberta
Sunday, March 15
14:00 Bronze (Eastlink TV / www.CIS-SIC.tv)
18:30 Final (Sportsnet 360 / www.CIS-SIC.tv) *
* The webcast of the semifinals & final are on pay-per-view basis.