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Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference "To be Canada's premiere collegiate athletic conference by developing and inspiring leadership through excellence in academics, sport and citizenship"
Posted: Jan 21, 2023

VIKINGS VICTORIOUS OVER VALIANT VOYAGEURS IN OT THRILLER

Box Score
Scoring Summary
1st - 02:05 - Shaye Sommerfeld (Portage)
1st - 10:35 - Jacob Charko (UAA)
1st - 14:25 - PP - Shaye Sommerfeld (Portage)
1st - 17:19 - PP - Conner Grunsten (Portage)
1st - 19:53 - Colby Wolter (UAA)
2nd - 00:30 - Jack Hamly (UAA)
2nd - 03:07 - Brody Dale (Portage)
2nd - 14:35 - Jase Smalcel (UAA)
OT - -1:-14 - Jake Gudjonson (UAA)
Game Leaders
UAA
G: 5 Players (#2, #11, #12, #77, #96) - 1
A: 9 Players (#2, #12, #14, #17, #20, #21, #25, #26, #91) - 1
Sh: N/A
Sv: Rett Rook - 39
Portage
G: Shaye Sommerfeld - 2
A: 2 Players (#09, #10) - 2
Sh: N/A
Sv: Alex Brousseau - 43
Team Stats
Full stats

LAC LA BICHE – Their aim was to stop a bunch of Vikings from invading their home turf and stealing two points. They almost succeeded. The shorthanded Portage College Voyageurs, down several players due to injury and scholastic commitments, gave the visiting Augustana Vikings a battle royale on Saturday night at the Bold Center, before succumbing 5-4 in overtime. Jake Gudjonson scored at 3:46 of the extra period to seal the victory, shortly after the Vikings had finished killing of a penalty.

On Hockey Day in Canada, the two clubs put on a fantastic show and a perfect exhibition of what the sport at its best is all about: lots of scoring chances, huge hits, stellar saves, perfect passing plays, great goals and even a little bad blood. The game had it all – except for the result the Voyageurs were seeking.

"I think maybe we ran out of gas a little bit but I thought we played our hearts out, "said Voyageurs' Assistant Coach Dave Hyrsky after the hard-fought contest. "That's something with this team that we get every night. You know you're going to get the effort. It was good and our powerplay clicked a little bit which is something that hasn't clicked for us so that was a positive thing. Just hanging in with these guys with a short bench was a good job."

The Voyageurs led 3-2 after the first, with Shaye Sommerfeld potting two powerplay markers and Conner Grunsten adding his third of the season. Jacob Charko and Colby Wolter replied for the visitors. In the second, both teams traded chances, with the Vikings scoring twice thanks to goals from Jack Hamly and Jase Smalcel, while Brody Dale found the back of the net for the home squad. Jaxon Georget played a strong game for the Vikings and was named Player of the Game for his squad. Nick Gidney was stellar on defence for the Voyageurs and took home similar honours for Portage.

Picking up a point for the OT loss helps a bit with the Voyageurs' playoff push but Hyrsky knows that his heart-on-their-sleeves players are in tough heading to Red Deer next weekend against the league-leading Kings.

"We're six points out right now on Concordia so a big weekend coming up," he said. "Obviously it's going to be a tough one against Red Deer with the injuries we have but if we can get a point or two out of that weekend we'll still be in the race. We still believe we can make it into the playoffs so it was something to build on from tonight for sure."