Saints finish season in thrilling fashion, earning three of four points from TWU
By Kim Verigin
Riding a season high two game win streak, the Saints had no reason to hold back as they welcomed Trinity Western University (TWU) Spartans to Nelson for their final two games of the season.
Knowing that at least one win would give the Selkirk men’s hockey team the highest point total in their BCIHL history, it was a matter of buckling down and conquering a team who had just recently beat Simon Fraser University (SFU) and Okanagan College, two of the top teams in the league.
On Friday night at the Nelson and District CC the stage was set and the Spartans were determined to make the Saints challenge all that much more difficult by scoring the first two goals in a game where Selkirk out hit and out played their feisty opponent from Langley, BC.
Working through the same adversity that plagued them much of the season, and without injured players Scott Jago and Caleb Roy, the Saints started the comeback midway through the second period on a goal by Burhan Pourmokhtari.
Caleb Georgetti and Devon Nazaroff added to the excitement by pocketing two more goals to give the Saints a 3-2 lead after two. The third period was all Saints as TWU was simply shutdown and Brendan Madlung scored the insurance marker with three minutes left to give the Saints a 4-2 win.
Adding helpers in the contest was Scotty Traverse (3), Travis Herlein, Adam Makaroff, Braden Mace and Devon Nazaroff. Goal tender Spenser Wong earned first star honors by stopping 38 of 40 shots.
Game two on Saturday night started out much like the first with TWU scoring first on a shorthanded play take a 1-0 lead into the first break. Caleb Georgetti notched a goal for the Saints early in the second with assists going to Cody Baker and Scotty Traverse.
However, only three minutes later TWU managed to squeak another goal past Saints tendy, Todd Hoodicoff putting the Saints down 2-1 after two periods of play.
Coming out of the gates in the third with all cylinders firing, Scotty Traverse, assisted by Devin Kerckhof and Josh Mace, notched his fifth point of the weekend only 9 seconds into the stanza.
That was it for scoring as the two teams battled back and forth, trading many chances and special team opportunities. The game settled as a tie as per BCIHL regulations. Hoodicoff stood on his head stopping 34 of 36 shots earning the first star nod.
The Saints finished sixth place in the regular season after earning seven out of a possible eight points over their final four games. This was however not enough to qualify them for the BCIHL Championships hosted by SFU in mid March.
The top five teams in regular season play earn this honor. Complete stats are available at www.bcihl.ca
The Saints would like to thank everyone who supported the team over the past year including the numerous volunteers and sponsors.
A special thanks goes out to the Nelson Leafs volunteers and staff at the NDCC for their time and dedication this past weekend.
Stay tuned for Saints recruiting updates in the near future.
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