NAIT completes weekend sweep
Briercrest took the ice Saturday afternoon in a rematch against the NAIT Ooks.
The first period was choppy, with 25 face offs and many stoppages for offsides and shots tipped into the netting. The visitors were able to get on the scoreboard early, converting some pretty passing to take the lead. Brandyn Garth made several excellent saves to keep things close before Luke Syrenne took a pass from Jordaan Braun and put the puck past NAIT's Kyle Birch to get the home side on the board. Marvin Powell and Micah Abbott made some good defensive plays to intercept passes and keep attackers to the perimeter, but the guests still took a 5-1 lead into the first break.
Briercrest's penalty kill was solid in the second period, partly thanks to some more key saves by Garth. Mark MacKinnon made a gutsy shot block, limped to the bench, then came right back to tie up an Ook breaking in on net. Alex Bechtold and Brett Lafond had a good scoring chance on a two-on-one, but didn't find the back of the net.
The third period saw continued defensive effort from Briercrest. Blayd Anholt broke up a two-on-one rush, and the penalty kill was strong early. NAIT's shooters peppered Garth with 64 shots and he was excellent in turning lots of great scoring chances aside. Final score was 10-1 NAIT. Luke Syrenne for Briercrest and Sam Waterfield for NAIT were players of the game.
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