Briercrest Grinds Out a 3-2 Victory Over Augustana

This afternoon's rematch was a great character win after a disappointing result the night before. The Briercrest Clippers never trailed as they earned a hardworking victory against the Augustana Vikings.

By Alex and Jeremy Demoskoff

The tone was set early by the starting line of Halen Cordoni, Daine Milgate, and Colton Aikens as they pinned the visitors deep in their own zone and created some quick scoring chances. And the hosts didn't let up- denying the Vikings even a shot on net until several minutes later. 

Briercrest connected on the powerplay at the 5-minute mark as Alex Pellerin and Ryan Miley set up Curtis Wiebe for an outstanding one-timer that bulged the twine. The shots continued to pile up, and a feed from Milgate was converted by Cordoni as the Clippers doubled their lead to close out the first period.

Every inch of ice was contested throughout the middle frame as the physical intensity mounted and the teams traded hits. There were only six shots apiece as the teams clamped down defensively, and the Clippers took a 2-0 lead into the third.

From there, Briercrest's player of the game Kolter Pawlick went to work as he was forced to turn aside several dangerous chances by Viking attackers. Tireless backchecking by Zach Ashworth highlighted the Clipper's defensive efforts, but the visitors managed to find a shorthanded goal to cut the lead in half.

Undaunted, the home side tilted the ice and fired 17 shots at the Viking's Rett Rook. Cole Stevenson set up Curtis Wiebe for his second of the afternoon and a more comfortable 3-1 lead. There were some nail biting moments a few minutes later when the Clippers had to kill off a rare 6-on-3 man-advantage, but they held the fort and kept the Vikings at bay.

Augustana's player of the game, Owen Lamb, added a meaningless goal with less than three seconds left, but that only delayed the celebration as Briercrest closed out a 3-2 victory.

"It was a fun, intense game," said player of the game Curtis Wiebe, "The crowd was loud today and yesterday and we love having them out here."

Kolter Pawlick talked about what this win means for the team: "It's awesome that we were able to come back today and get the win… [it's a] credit to my defencemen, forward, and our system."

Briercrest moves into a tie for fourth place, and will look to climb further in the standings next weekend as they hit the road to face the team they swept in the playoffs last year- the Red Deer Kings.