Kings win in shootout against Thunder, Queens put up 52 shots in their victory
Edmonton and Red Deer, October 20, 2023 – The Red Deer Polytechnic Kings are victorious for the first time this season after coming away with a shootout win in Edmonton. The Queens outshot the SAIT Trojans by 40 shots on their way to a 3-1 victory.
See below for more information regarding each game.
Women's Hockey – SAIT Trojans 1 at Queens 3
The Red Deer Polytechnic Queens pound the SAIT Trojans net with shots on their way to getting back into the win column.
The Queens were given two powerplay opportunities in the first 10 minutes of the opening period but could not capitalize on either chance as goaltender Kaylin Schellenberg (Architectural Technologies) came big for her Trojans. On a side note, Schellenberg now is the all-time saves leader in Trojans history with over 1100 and counting. The Queens would finally open the scoring on their 11th shot of the game as forward Avery Lajeunesse (Bachelor of Education) would skate off the boards to find a driving Jailyn Bablitz (Bachelor of Education) who made one move before beating the Trojans goaltender.
The Queens would add an insurance marker late in the first period after forward Alli Soyko (Bachelor of Education) deflected home a shot from teammate Rylee Mepham (Bachelor of Education) to give their team a 2-0 lead. The Trojans just had 5 shots at the end of the first period with the Queens peppering the Trojans goal with 19.
Seven minutes into the second, the Trojans would cut the Queens lead in half. Forward Pyper Alexander (Environmental Technologies) would come off the boards into the slot and would fire a tough wrist shot passed Queens goaltender Izzy Palumbo (Bachelor of Business Administration) which was just SAIT's eighth shot of the game.
The Queens would still hold their lead as they went into the dressing room following the end of the second period. They would also continue to outshoot the Trojans 37-11.
The Queens would regain their two-goal lead early in the third period. Forward Camryn Ward (Bachelor of Kinesiology) managed to get her stick on a shot from defence Brooke Skrypichayko (Bachelor of Education) which found its way past Schellenberg on the Polytechnic's 42nd shot of the game.
In the end, the Queens would skate away with a 3-1 victory.
Head Coach Kelly Coulter said the team really executed their game plan and what they were working on in practice.
"We were able to generate a lot of shots. We talked about extending our offensive zone time. Last week we were turning over the puck too many times, a lot of unforced turnovers. We were throwing pucks blind but tonight I thought we were managing the puck a whole lot better. I really liked that we hunted pucks with pace which generated a lot of shots."
Schellenberg faced 52 shots and was named the player of the game for the Trojans and Queens Rylee Mepham would win the honours for her team for the second consecutive game.
These two teams will face off tomorrow at 1:45 pm in Calgary.
Men's Hockey – Kings 3 at Concordia University Thunder 2
The Thunder would open the scoring in the final 10 minutes of the first period on a two-on-one odd-man rush that ended in a one-timer from forward Griffen Ryden.
But Kings forward Jacob Wozney (Bachelor of Education) would answer back on a solo breakaway as he juked out the Concordia goaltender and slid it into the back of the net.
At the end of the period, the two teams were deadlocked at one.
The second period would be uneventful as the two teams battled it out like they did in last year's ACAC Championship semi-finals. This is the first time these two teams have seen each other since the Kings came back in the best-of-three-game-series to win it 2-1 and move on to the championship final.
In the first few minutes of the third, forward Sean Michalevich (Business Administration) would give the Kings their first lead of the game after he back-handed the puck from the high slot into the top corner over the shoulder of the Thunder goaltender.
With five minutes left to play, Kings goaltender Arik Weersink fought off a shot through a screen but this caused a rebound to pop out in the danger zone. Forward Tyler Schendel would jump on the open puck and put it past Weersink who made a diving attempt but Schendel slid it underneath the goaltender to tie it up at two.
This game would need overtime but no team could solve the opposing goaltender which meant a shootout was needed.
Wozney, who was named the Kings player of the game, and forward Erik Miller (Bachelor of Business Administration) scored in the shootout with Weersink stopping one of two shooters to lead the Kings to a 3-2 victory for their first win of the season.
These two teams will be back at it tomorrow evening in Red Deer.