By Kyle Legouffe

Despite playing with intensity, Briercrest couldn't knock off the defending ACAC champs from Augustana, losing 5-3.

Briercrest will again play host to the University of Alberta, Augustana Vikings at the Barkman Arena on Saturday at 2:00pm. Briercrest will be looking to gain their first victory of the season when game time hits. Coach Dalton Stoltz will also be looking to put that first win under his belt in the game tomorrow.

The opening 20 minutes saw Briercrest come out flying with intensity. They were able to kill off all three penalties taken in the period as Manuel Schellenberg took two minor penalties one for roughing and one for high sticking; Brennan Gasmo also took a minor penalty for high sticking. Augustana directed 24 shots towards Jesse Chenard and he was able to stop all but one as there was a scramble in front of the net and the puck ended up rippling the mesh. The final shot count for the period was 24-3 in favour of the Vikings.

The middle frame was filled with hard hitting and goals. Briercrest was able to net two power play goals coming from Caleb Washington and Josh Dufresne. Washington’s goal was his first career ACAC goal and it was a beauty as he was going hard to the net and banging in a rebound in the slot. Dufresne’s goal was generated from a pass from Dan Stollery and it was a quick release in the slot, which beat the Vikings goaltender high stick side. Augustana also potted two goals and at the end of the period the score was 3-2. The shot count was 17-4 in favour of the Vikings and the total after two periods was 41-7.

The final stanza saw Briercrest add one more goal coming from Caleb Willems as he put the puck out in front and it banked off some legs and into the back of the net. Willems was also involved in a huge hit that popped his helmet off and drew a checking to the head minor plus a ten-minute misconduct penalty for Dean Prpick of the Vikings. Augustana added two more goals in the frame, which made the final score 5-3.

The player of the game awards were given to Caleb Willems for Briercrest as he scored one of the three Briercrest goals and Daniel Hope for Augustana as he had one goal and one assist.

The second game of the weekend will be tomorrow afternoon at 2:00pm at Barkman Arena so show your support and cheer on the hometown hockey team.