Huskies win, everyone pitches in

Carson Stadnyk, right, looks to try a wraparound for the Huskies.

    It seemed like everyone was getting in on the action for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team.

    On Friday night at the ancient Rutherford Rink, six different player scored for the Huskies as they dumped the visiting University of Manitoba Bisons 6-2 in a U Sports regular season contest before 393 frigid spectators.
    The contest provided an interesting clash as the Huskies came in rated fourth in the U Sports Top 10 rankings and had dropped a 4-2 decision last Saturday in Lethbridge to the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns.

Logan McVeigh had three assists for the Huskies.

    The Bisons were rated ninth in the U Sports Top 10 rankings and were coming in high on confidence having won their last two outings by sweeping the University of Alberta Golden Bears in a two-game series on Jan. 5 and 6 in Winnipeg and having won four straight overall. The Golden Bears are rated second in the U Sports Top 10 rankings.
    U of S didn’t take the Bisons lightly jumping out of the gates with a fast start. Just 51 seconds into Friday’s clash, fourth-year right-winger Parker Thomas knocked home his fifth goal of the season at the left side of the Bisons net to give the Huskies a 1-0 edge.

    The hosts went ahead 2-0 with 1:29 to play in the first when sophomore left-winger Carson Stadnyk netted his fourth of the campaign. The Huskies outshot the Bisons 16-7 over the opening 20 minutes.

Josh Roach leads Canada West in scoring with 10 goals and 18 assists.

    The Bisons found their legs in the second period coming with a big push back. Sophomore centre Remi Laurencelle scored 63 seconds into the second on the power play for the Bisons to cut the Huskies edge to 2-1.

    At the 8:11 mark of the second, the Bisons cashed in on a three-on-one opportunity down close near the Huskies goal. Bisons third-year defenceman Adam Henry pinched down to the left side of the Huskies goal and converted a tick-tack-toe passing play from forwards Zach Franko and Michael St. Croix to tie things up at 2-2.

    Just as the Bisons seemed to have all the momentum, the Huskies recaptured it when gritty fifth-year centre John Lawrence wired home his sixth of the season from the left slot to give the hosts a 3-2 edge with 9:05 to play in the second.

Michael Sofillas had a goal and an assist for the Huskies.

    Centre Jordan Tkatch and right-winger Josh Roach netted singles at the 2:58 and 10:21 marks respectively of the third period to put the Huskies up 5-2.

    With 66 seconds to play in the third, the Huskies rounded out the scoring when right-winger Levi Cable and centre Logan McVeigh teamed up to spring left-winger Michael Sofillas on a breakaway towards an empty net, and he potted the puck easily into the vacated cage.

    Taran Kozun turned away 27 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Huskies, who sit second in the Canada West Conference with a 15-3-1 record. Byron Spriggs turned away 34-of-39 shots taking the setback in goal for the Bisons, who sit third in Canada West with an 11-6-2 mark.

Netminder Taran Kozun begins to celebrate a win with two teammates.

    Roach, Sofillas and Stadnyk all had an assist each to go along with their respective goals. Roach continues to lead Canada West in scoring piling up 10 goals and 18 assists in 19 regular season games.

    McVeigh finished with three assists on the night to give him 18 helpers on the campaign to match his career high.
    The Kenaston, Sask., product was a plus-three in the plus-minus department.

Offensive defenceman Jesse Forsberg had a stellar night collecting three assists and posting a plus-four rating in the plus-minus department.

    The two teams go at it again on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Rutherford.

Vance returns to haunt Bisons

Jessica Vance picked up a special win in Winnipeg.

    Jessica Vance posted arguably one of her sweetest victories in her U Sports career on Friday night in Winnipeg, Man.

    The sophomore netminder with the U of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team turned away 22 shots to back her squad to a 3-1 regular season victory over the host U of Manitoba Bisons, who are rated first in the U Sports Top 10 rankings. The Bisons were the Prince Albert, Sask., product’s first team, but she found herself buried on U of M’s goaltending depth chart.

    After dressing for one game as a backup early last season for the Bisons, Vance elected to leave the U of M side and joined the Huskies to play closer to home.

    Her teammates provided good offensive support in Friday’s clash before 400 spectators at the Wayne Fleming Arena. Just 2:38 into the opening frame, sophomore defender Kayla Kirwan netted her third goal of the season with checking winger Danielle Nogier drawing an assist.

    After a scoreless second period, the Huskies went ahead 2-0 at the 12:02 mark of the third, when third-year winger Rachel Lundberg netted her first goal of the campaign with rookie center Chloe Smith drawing an assist.

    Bisons fourth-year forward Lauryn Keen scored just over two-and-a-half minutes later to cut the Huskies edge to 2-1.

Kayla Kirwan scored for the Huskies on Friday night.

    Huskies sophomore left-winger Emily Upgang sealed the victory for the visitors scoring into an empty net with 72 seconds remaining in the third.

    Fifth-year netminder Rachel Dyck turned away 16-of-18 shots to take the setback in goal for the Bisons (13-5-1).

    To show how much the goalies are ruling the Canada West Conference in women’s hockey, Keen topped the conference in scoring last season with nine goals and 25 assists appearing in all 28 of her squad’s regular season games. Keen has five goals and four assists in 17 regular season games so far in the current campaign.

    Vance continued her stellar season winning her fifth straight start. She now has a 7-2 record, a 1.00 goals against average, a .958 save percentage and four shutouts on the campaign.

    With Vance in net, the Huskies have won their last four straight games to improve to 12-6-1.

    The two teams face each other again on Saturday in Winnipeg.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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