Kings lose in their home opener, Queens suffer a loss in Lloydminster
Red Deer, October 13, 2023 – Red Deer Polytechnic Hockey came up short in two different venues with the Queens falling to the Lakeland College Rustlers and the Kings being defeated by the University of Alberta-Augustana Vikings on Saturday night.
In the 4-2 loss in Lloydminster, Queens would fall to 2-1 on the season. They got goals from
As for the Kings, defenceman Brennan Davis scored their lone goal in the team's season and home opener.
See below for more information regarding each game.
Men's Hockey – University of Alberta-Augustana Vikings 2 at Kings 1
The University of Alberta-Augustana Vikings would spoil the Red Deer Polytechnic's home and season opener as they defeated the defending champions.
The Vikings would ruin the Kings home opener by scoring the season-opening goal eight minutes into the first period on just the second shot of the game, two seconds after the powerplay expired. Forward Jake Gudjonson (Bachelor of Arts in Psychology) walked in from the blue line and beat Kings goaltender Arik Weersink (Kinesiology and Sports Studies) on the glove side.
At the end of the first period, despite being down one, the Kings outshot the Vikings 8-3.
The Vikings would shut out the Kings in the second period to hold their narrow 1-0 lead as they head into the final period. However, the Kings continued to pepper the Vikings goaltender with shots as they outshot their opponent 18-10.
Early in the third, the Polytechnic finally found the equalizer off a shot from defenceman Brennan Davis. With traffic skating across the net, Davis (Bachelor of Arts in Psychology) fired a soft shot that bounced off a Vikings player and it managed to beat the Augustana goaltender top corner to tie it up at one.
Before the 10 minute mark of the third period, the Vikings regained their lead after forward Tanner Manz (Bachelor of Business Management) picked up a loose puck on the boards, wrapped it around and placed the puck in the back of the net.
Augustana would put the nail in the coffin with an empty-net goal with just over two minutes left to play. Manz would score his second goal of the game off a shot from inside his own blue line.
Head Coach Trevor Keeper explained the Kings need to be more disciplined tomorrow night if they want to bounce back with a victory.
"We completely looked like a different team tonight. We had a lot of selfish plays and players thinking they were more important than others. They need to get the message that we have to play and act like a team. If players do not get that message, they will sit the next game as we got lots of depth this year."
Manz was named the player of the game for the Vikings with Davis earning the honours for the Kings.
These teams will be back at it tomorrow night at 7 pm in Camrose.
Women's Hockey – Queens 2 at Lakeland College Rustlers 4
The Red Deer Polytechnic Queens could not pull off back-to-back victories against the Lakeland College Rustlers after falling to defeat in Lloydminster in the Rustlers home opener of the 2023/2024 season.
However, the Queens would open the scoring on the powerplay. After forward Jailyn Bablitz (Bachelor of Education) won a puck battle on the boards, forward Avery Lajeunesse picked up the loose puck and would (Bachelor of Education) would sauce it over to her teammate Tasha Barsby, who would wrist it into the back of the net for the games first goal.
This would be the lone goal of the period with the Queens being outshot 15-6.
Finally, the Rustlers were able to solve goaltender Izzy Palumbo (Bachelor of Business Administration) on the powerplay. Forward Hailey Carothers would score her second of the season six minutes into the second period.
But the Queens answered back with a goal from forward Molly Flynn (Bachelor of Science in Nursing) to regain their lead with five minutes in the second.
The Polytechnic continued to get outshot 28-11 after the two frames.
In the third period, the Rustlers would score three unanswered goals. Forward Keyra Buziak would score two goals, 27 seconds apart, with Carothers adding an empty net to defeat the Queens 4-2.
With a huge night between the pipes, stopping 33 of 36 shots, goaltender Izzy Palumbo was awarded the ACAC player of the game.
These two teams will be back at it tomorrow night in Red Deer for their third and final meeting against each other this semester.