It was back-to-back wins for the Portage College Voyageurs hockey team this past weekend against the Augustana Vikings, with a 4-3 win tem Friday night in Camrose and a 6-5 overtime win Saturday night at the Bold Center.
Thanks to their two wins this weekend, the Voyageurs currently sits in fifth spot in the Alberta College Athletics Conference, something head coach Terry Ewasiuk says is good spot for the team.
"This weekend was a very positive weekend for the Voyageurs in their quest for a playoff spot,” he said.
Friday night's game in Camrose saw the Vikings take a quick two goal lead in the first period, but it wasn't for long, with Voyageurs rookie left winger Matthew Foster opening the Portage scoring run. The Voyageurs scored the only two goals of the second period, bringing the score to 3-2 for the Voyageurs. But the Vikings weren't giving up that easily, and came back to score the equalizer early in the third period. The rookie Foster proved his place on the team with a late-game goal, giving the Voyageurs the win.
"It was a big confidence booster for the team,” said Ewasiuk, noting that the team has lost to the Vikings twice earlier this season.
Voyageurs win
at home
Saturday night's game at the Bold Center saw both teams itching for a win, with the Vikings scoring the first goal only five minutes in.
The Voyageurs were quick to respond, thanks to a Chris Glen effort. The teams both scored one more by the end of the period. The home team scored two quick goals to start the second period, with Augustana putting one more point on the board.
The final period offered fans in the Fleming Arena the excitement of end-to-end action as both teams turned up the heat, and the offence.
"The third period was a wild affair with the momentum shifting from one team to the other team throughout the period,” said Ewasiuk.
The Camrose-based team scored the first goal of the period, bringing the score to 4-4. Following a Voyageurs goalie change, the Vikings scored on new-to-the-game netminder Dallas Ungurian.
V-geurs centreman Gerald Desjarlais was quick to bounce back for his team and his goal in the game's dying minutes made it 5-5. But before the home crowd had settled down from cheering, the Voyageurs were tagged with a late-game penalty. Their penalty kill got out of regular time, but their man-short play carried over into the overtime period.
Going into overtime with a penalty to kill was nail-biting, said the coach.
"One minute and forty-three seconds doesn't seem like a long time but trust me, in this situation, it felt like an eternity,” said the coach.
Their penalty killers were rewarded 10 seconds after the sin-bin was emptied when Voyageur Codie Knightly scored the overtime winner.
It was an intense game to play, watch and coach, said Ewasiuk.
"What a game for the fans — but I lost more hair,” said Ewasiuk. "In the end, the right team won and another playoff appearance by the Voyageurs seems imminent.”
