In front of their best crowd ever, the Selkirk College Saints set the B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League record for most wins with a dramatic 4-3 come-from-behind victory over Simon Fraser University on Saturday night at the Castlegar Recreation Complex.
Close to 600 crowded into the Complex to watch the Saints skate to their 13th consecutive victory.
Former Beaver Valley Nitehawk Mason Spear scored with three minutes remaining in regulation to propel the Saints to the comeback win. An attempted wrap-around by Connor McLaughlin found the stick of Spear, who scored from the side of crease to give the Saints their first lead of the night.
SFU had jumped out to a 2-0 lead but former Smoke Eater Logan Proulx cut it in half with a blast past the SFU netminder.
The visitors restored their two-goal advantage with 4:36 remaining in the frame, but the Saints’ special teams awoke on a late second period power-play, with team captain Jordan Wood banking a centering pass past Gordon with 52 seconds remaining.
Selkirk poured it on in the third, but weren’t rewarded until Thomas Hardy redirected a Sandro Moser point shot with 3:29 to play to even the game. Spear would score the game winner 19 seconds later.
SFU had the opportunity to tie the game on a late power-play, but Selkirk’s penalty kill came through and preserved the win.
“We anticipated some rust coming out in the first and we didn’t really get going until midway through the game, but once we found our legs we seemed to carry the play in the second and third,” says Saints head coach Jeff Dubois.
“We have a confident and resilient group, and the feeling on the bench and in the room between periods was that it was just a matter of time before we got rewarded for our hard work.”
Selkirk outshot the Clan by a 12-1 margin in the third period and 38-22 overall. The Saints return to their home ice on Friday when Trinity Western University visits Castlegar. Face-off is set for 8 p.m.