The Kings hand the Trojans their first loss of the season

Red Deer, October 21 - The Red Deer Polytechnic Kings hockey program give the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) Trojans their first loss of the season. The Kings came away with a 4-2 win over the Trojans.

Just under two minutes into the first period, a Trojans defenceman blows a tire and Kings forward Chance Longjohn jumps on the loose puck. He would lift a back hand over the glove of SAIT'S goaltender Boston Bilous to give Red Deer the early 1-0 lead. Later on in the opening frame, SAIT's defenceman Dylan Schives would skate end to end through the Kings players and finish top shelf over the Kings goalie, Evan Fradette. At the end of the first period, the Kings and Trojans would head to the locker room with a 1-1 tie. SAIT had a slight 10-7 lead in shots over Red Deer.

Early in the second period, a shot was blocked by Kings defenceman Parker Gavlas which led to forward Reegan Doig stealing the puck at the blue line. This would give him a clear path to the net. Doig would fire a wrist shot past the Trojans goaltender for a short-handed goal to take a 2-1 lead 4 minutes into the second frame. After a SAIT giveaway in the high slot, the Kings were given a prime opportunity to put themselves up 3-1 but Bilous of the Trojans came up big and kept his team within one.

With two minutes left to go in the middle frame, the Kings would get their insurance goal from assistant captain Jacob Kendall after he received a pass from Brennan Davis. Kendall was stopped on his first attempt but would tuck away Red Deer's third goal on his second try. But the Kings were not done there. Holden Knights would drive hard down the boards and put a shot on net. The Trojans goalie would give off a rebound and Erik Miller would jump on it to give the Kings a commanding 4-1 lead going into the third period. Defenceman Ty Ettinger got the second assist on the goal.

Besides the five penalties between both teams, the third period was not as active as the second with only one goal being scored. Forward Carson Welke was able to tip one past Fradette after defenceman Chase Felgueiras put a shot on net from the blue line. Zachary Huber of the Trojans would get the secondary assistant on Welke's goal at the seventh minute in the third period. This would do it for the Kings and Trojans with Red Deer coming away with a 4-1 victory over the Calgary-based team.

With a goal and gritty performance, Welke was named the player of the game for SAIT. For the Kings, Evan Fradette gave the Kings a 28 save performance enroute to him being honoured as the player of the game for Red Deer.

Head Coach Trevor Keeper says the Kings were really focusing on their game away from the puck.

"We really focused this week on our forecheck, being in good positions and making it harder for the Trojans to get out of their own end. Also, we performed well in the defensive end and didn't give the Trojans much room to work with."

These two teams will face off tomorrow in Calgary at the Winsport arena at 6:15.