VOYAGEURS NEARLY PULL OFF SPECTACULAR COMEBACK BUT SPLIT WEEKEND GAMES VERSUS BRIERCREST
LAC LA BICHE – There was no rollercoaster at Lac La Biche's annual Festival of Trees celebration this past weekend – but the Portage College Voyageurs took their fans on quite the ride, nonetheless. The home squad played a pair of exciting games against the visiting Briercrest Clippers, besting them 7-3 Friday night before losing 6-4 Saturday afternoon.
The weekend featured just about everything: spectacular goals, great saves, gritty penalty killing, a potent powerplay, some thundering hits, and an almost remarkable comeback, leaving the sizeable weekend crowds buzzing even during the intermissions. When it was over, players from both squads laid down their battle gear and circled the centre ice dot for a quiet moment of prayer, respect, and camaraderie. ACAC hockey at its finest.
On Friday night, the Voyageurs battled back from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits and broke a 3-3 third period tie with four unanswered goals in the last 10 minutes to seal the deal. Xavier Halterman and Tye Evans each scored twice, with Brenan Rosychuk, Carson Devine, and Aidan Taylor also contributing on the scoresheet. Evans scored his second on a penalty shot late in the second, dazzling spectators with a series of dipsy doodles before firing the puck past Brendan Smith. It was a milestone goal for the second year forward.
"That was my first penalty shot, actually, but we practice it a lot in practice, so I just came out, scored, and was happy about it," said Evans.
One of the main reasons for the win was the Voyageurs' powerplay, which went three for five on the night. It helped the home team overcome a slow start to the contest.
"We were a little sloppy in the first period, but we got better as the game got on," said Head Coach Kevin McClelland. "I think that (Assistant Coach) Pierre (Sparklingeyes) did a great job with the powerplay this week, obviously, and it showed up on the scoreboard tonight and that pretty much won us the game."
While pleased that they outshot the Clippers 43-36 and dominated most of the third period, Evans and McClelland knew that the rematch 18 hours later would be tough. They both emphasized that the Voyageurs would have to step up their game if they wanted to sweep the weekend series.
"They're gonna come out hard so we should come out harder and come back and play like we played today, and we'll be fine," said Evans.
Alas, it was not to be. As predicted, the Clippers came out like gangbusters in the first, potting four unanswered goals, aided by the Voyageurs' lack of discipline. Although they killed three of four powerplays in the first, the visitors had all the momentum and outshot the home squad 17-4.
"We knew they were going to come out hard today," said McClelland after the rematch. "It's hard to win back-to-back games. I faced that in St. Johns (Newfoundland and Labrador) as a player and as a coach. Whenever a team came in, we always played back-to-back games, and it was always tough winning them both."
The intermission briefly stopped Briercrest's momentum, but an early marker by Keenan Conn chased starter Jackson Miller, who could not be faulted for most of the tallies, from the net. With Ethan Baron between the pipes and a 5-0 deficit, it seemed like Portage suddenly flicked a switch. A powerplay marker from Carson Devine at the six-minute mark got the ball rolling and the Voyageurs started coming in waves, skating circles around the Clippers and generating plenty of scoring opportunities. Taylor made it 5-2 halfway through the period before Brenan Rosychuk went to work, scoring two highlight-reel goals to bring the home squad to within one and the crowd into a frenzy. In a reversal of fortune, what saved the Clippers was the intermission. Well, that, and the Voyageurs return to the sin bin in the final frame.
"We had a good push back in the second and then we came out in the third and all of a sudden we're in the penalty box," said McClelland. "We didn't give ourselves a chance to get back into it."
And while they did successfully kill off all three infractions, the time spent keeping the puck out of their net deprived the Voyageurs of valuable time to put at least one in Briercrest's.
"That's six minutes we could've used to generate more offence to try and get that fifth goal," said McClelland.
Despite the disappointment, the four-time Stanley Cup Champion was generally pleased with his troops' push back and was happy to grab at least three valuable points in the standings. The fourth-place Voyageurs now prepare for an important two games against Concordia next weekend.
"We turn the page and move on," said McClelland. "Tomorrow is another day."
Players of the Game
November 21
Briercrest: #11 Orin Olson
Portage: #21 Tye Evans
November 22
Briercrest: #6 Jake Dale
Portage: #5 Brenan Rosychuk
