SAC Saints roll to third-straight CISAA Championship

March 4, 2015 · 0 Comments

By Jake Courtepatte

St. Andrew’s College’s first hockey team survived an almost insurmountable comeback attempt to sweep the Nichols School Vikings in the CISAA Final best-of-three series.

You would be hard-pressed to have bet against the perennial powerhouse, as they entered Game 1 on Friday at the LaBrier Family Arena having shutout Appleby College by a score of 9 – 0 over a two-game sweep in the semifinals.

Picking up where they left off, Austin Cho put the Saints ahead early after receiving a nice saucer pass from JD Falconer on a 2-on-1 break. Falconer led the team with 68 points in the regular season.

Forward Darren Iwai looked to double the lead five minutes into the second, but was stopped on a nice poke check from the Nichols goaltender.

After Jacob Miller capitalized midway through the frame, Iwai got his redemption on a nice wrister from one knee that found twine for a 3 – 0 lead after two periods.

Game 1 ended in anti-climactic fashion, as the Saints fourth goal of the game came on an awkward play where a Nichols defenseman pushed the Saints’ Quentin Campbell into his own net, knocking the goaltender and the puck in with him.

Despite some argument from the road team, the 4 – 0 score stuck to leave the Saints only one win from CISAA dominance.

Saturday’s matchup on the road began much the same, as the Saints took a 4 – 1 lead into the midway mark of the game. Their only blip on the score sheet was a late first period goal by the Vikings’ Anthony Scanzuso, the first goal Saints goaltender Matthew Galajda had allowed in over 200 minutes of action.

Two more Viking goals by the start of the third period had the Saints on their heels, however the lead proved strong enough as they held on to a 4 – 3 win and their third CISAA Championship in a row.

With their local dominance proven within the private school system, perhaps their biggest challenge of the season lies ahead this weekend back in front of a home crowd.

Along with the CISAA’s Appleby College, SAC and LaBrier Family Arena play host to the National Independent School Invitational Championship, hosting teams from as far west as British Columbia and as far east as Nova Scotia.

The Saints kick off their tournament schedule Thursday against Bishop’s College School of Quebec. Full schedules and stats can be found at www.nisic.ca.