Selkirk College continued to add to their list of ‘firsts’ accomplished during the 2012/13 B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League season, as the Saints advanced to the league finals for the first time by beating the University of Victoria by a 4-1 score on Saturday night.
The win capped a two-game series sweep of the Vikes at the Castlegar Rec Complex, as Selkirk had taken Game 1 by a 3-0 score a night earlier. With the win, Selkirk will now host Simon Fraser University in a best-of-three series for the BCIHL championship beginning Friday.
The Saints came bursting out of the gates in the first period and built a four-goal lead before intermission.
The rally started when Jackson Garrett beat UVic starter Sunny Gill with a wrist shot from the low slot to give Selkirk a 1-0 lead. Team captain Jordan Wood added a pair of power-play goals to triple the lead and Cody Fidgett struck for his second goal of the series with 51 seconds remaining in the frame.
That was all the offence the Saints would need as Victoria got on the board on a second period man-advantage but otherwise couldn’t beat Selkirk netminder Alex Sirard. The 21-year old continued his strong play on the heels of a shutout on Friday by turning aside 26 shots and helping his team kill 10 power-play opportunities, including a pair of lengthy two-man advantages.
“We had an excellent first period tonight and fought through some penalty troubles the rest of the way to grind out a win,” says Saints head coach Jeff Dubois. “UVic is a hard-working team that never gave up tonight and made us earn the victory. Alex (Sirard) came up with some big saves when he had to and our top offensive guys got the job done.”
Wood, Logan Proulx and Kam Crawford combined for six points on the night, though Proulx’s evening was cut short when he was ejected from the game for a hit from behind late in the first period.
Friday’s series-opener is set for a 7:30 p.m. start time but the venue will not be known until the conclusion of the Castlegar Rebels’ second-round series against Beaver Valley. If the Rebels advance, the Saints will play Games 1 and 2 of the league finals at the Nelson Recreation Center. If Beaver Valley prevails, all championship games will be played in Castlegar.