The Selkirk College Saints shocked undefeated Eastern Washington University Eagles (EWU) on the weekend, winning back-to-back games on the strength of two award winning performances.
Saints goaltender Spenser Wong was named the British Columbia Intercollegiate Hockey League’s Player of the Week and forward Jordan Wood earned the Rookie of the Month award for October after scoring 11 points in five games.
The dynamic duo led the Saints to its third and fourth victories of the season.
On Friday, the 21-year-old Wong made 36 saves -- including 17 in the third period of a first star effort -- to shut down the Eagles on home ice in a 4-1 win.
The Eagles strolled into the Castlegar Complex expecting to build on their 4-0 undefeated start. After a scoreless first period, Saints captain Scott Traverse opened the scoring in the second with his first goal of the season, assisted by Caleb Georgetti and Jordan Wood.
The Saints power play then went to work as Sandro Moser and Scott Jago scored at the 13:25 and 8:41 marks respectively, giving the home team a 3-0 lead. EWU managed a late goal to close the gap to 3-1 heading into the third.
Saints rookie Garrett Kucher scored his first goal of the season at 12:53 of the third to cap off a 4-1 win for the Saints.
On Saturday, Wood’s power play marker at 10:37 of the first period would stand as the only offence from either team until midway through the third when the Saints exploded for three straight.
Adam Makaroff, Kucher and Nithen Dhaliwal scored for the Saints while the Eagles could only muster a single marker late in the game to spoil Wong’s shut out bid.
Wong posted a 1.00 goals-against average and an outstanding .968 save percentage. His overall GAA (2.97) and save percentage (.922) stand sixth and second respectively in the league, while he has faced the most shots and made the most saves by any BCIHL goaltender this season.
The Saints now sit tied for third in the standings with a record of three wins and five losses. Next home games for the Saints are 7:30 p.m. on Saturday and 1:30 p.m. on Sunday at the Castlegar Complex when they host Trinity Western.