Saints taking CISAA hockey final to the limit

March 9, 2017 · 0 Comments

By Jake Courtepatte

The St. Andrew’s Saints are learning they have some competition in CISAA hockey.
After cruising through game one of the best-of-three independent school final against the Upper Canada College Blues, SAC’s top hockey team suffered their first loss in close to a month Friday on the road.
Upper Canada actually drew first blood in game one, beating Aidan Hosein near the end of the first at LaBrier Arena on the SAC campus.
Just seconds later off the draw, SAC’s Morgan Barron’s individual effort to get past both Blues defensemen tied the score, with the home team never looking back.
By the final buzzer, Regan Kimens, Lucas Thorne, Cam Hillis, Matthew MacDougall, Noah Lugli, and Nicholas Canade also found the back of the net for a final score of 7 – 1.
Upper Canada was only able to get 15 pucks on Hosein’s net, and entered game two on Friday as heavy underdogs.
But with a large and rowdy home crowd behind them, the Blues held the Saints off the scoresheet for the first period, opening the scoring themselves just over twelve minutes in.
They doubled their lead in the second, taking advantage of a man leaving the penalty box to spring an impromptu 2-on-1.
A lost draw in the defensive zone led to a quick goal late in the period, giving the Blues a 3 – 0 lead after forty minutes.
After another early Upper Canada goal in the third, Hillis and Ryan O’Connell both got on the board to cut the lead in two, as close as St. Andrew’s would get to clinching the championship.
The Blues added a late empty netter for a 5 – 2 score.
The Saints and Blues were far and away the top teams in the skilled CISAA this season, splitting their season series with one win, one loss, and one tie each.
Winners of the CISAA’s elite D1 division for four years running, the Saints will be looking to keep that streak going in game three later this week at LaBrier Arena.
The junior varsity Saints were also in action against Upper Canada on Friday, hosting the Blues at LaBrier Arena in their respective semifinal. A decisive 10 – 1 win set up a championship matchup with Villanova College, played Tuesday following press time.
The Blues got the upper hand against the under-16 Saints, who fell 4 – 3 in their semifinal on Wednesday.
The bitter rivals also split hosting duties this weekend of the National Independent School Invitational Championship, with games played at both LaBrier Arena and UCC’s Wilder Arena.
Schedules and results can be found at www.cisaa.ca.