SAIT over Queens 2-0 in hockey exhibition

The Red Deer College Queens faced the SAIT Trojans Saturday night at the Enmax Centrium in their final exhibition game. Alex Frisk got the start in goal for the Queens and was replaced by Jen West about halfway through the game. Emma Greenwood started for SAIT but was later replaced.

Like Thursday's game it took most of the 1st period for both teams to find their skating legs. Very few quality scoring opportunities were generated from either team in the opening period and neither goaltender was fully tested.

After 20 minutes of play the Trojans fired 5 shots at Frisk while the Queens directed 3 shots at Greenwood.

The RDC Queens came out harder to start the middle period. Nursing student Ashley Graf had a great scoring opportunity 21 seconds into the period but was denied. Not long after, Breanna Martin skated up the left side and just missed with a hard shot over the cross bar.

RDC had most of the play in the Trojans zone in the middle frame. With 10:51 remaining the Trojans switched goalies to Elisha Oswald. Kaci Jones tried to test her early but sent her wrist shot over the net. The line of Petrie, Graf and Swier had good pressure in the Trojans zone on several shifts.

While the Queens had the better part of the play, with only 11 seconds remaining the Trojans opened the scoring when Tessa Wilson found the back of the net.

In the 2^nd period the Queens had 8 shots while the Trojans directed 5 shots at the Queens net.

RDC had a good start to the final period, putting pressure on the Trojans.

The Queens had a good opportunity to tie the game when Bachelor of Science student Suze Vanderlinde went backhand on a break-away but was denied. With 10:52 remaining the Trojans called a timeout to settle things down after a flurry of action around Oswald.

RDC continued to press. With about 9 minutes remaning Teagan Borbandy shot high, Oswald caught a piece of the puck and it bounced wide. 

SAIT eventually took a 2-0 lead on a goal by Tessa Wilson with less than 7 minutes remaining. Jen West caught part of the shot with her glove hand but the puck's momentum carried it over the line.

Head Coach Kelly Coulter thought the Trojans did a good job blocking the shooting lanes which reduced the Queens scoring chances.

"We do want to generate more offense," said Coulter. "But according to our statistics SAIT blocked about 20 of our shots."

RDC had 11 shots in the 3rd period while the Trojans had 7.

The RDC Queens pulled West with just over a minute left for the extra attacker. RDC applied pressure but could not beat Oswald, who had a strong game in net. The game ended 2-0. Final shots were 22-17 in favour of the Queens.

As the game progressed Coulter thought the play of the Queens blue line improved.

"As the game went on I thought the play of our defensive corps got better," said Coulter. "The passes became more crisp and we did a better job of transitioning the puck up the ice."

Both teams went 0-for-5 on the power play.

The Queens face the NAIT Ooks at the Enmax Centrium Thursday, Oct. 6 at 7:00 p.m. This is a rematch of last season's ACAC women's hockey finals and opens the 2016-2017 regular season.