Trojans dropped in playoff opener

By SAIT Trojans student writer Colton Pankiw
CALGARY, ALTA (MARCH 3, 23) – The SAIT Trojans men's hockey team find themselves in a hole.

Despite winning the season series by a 3-1 total, nobody expected Game 1 of their opening playoff series against the Concordia University of Edmonton Thunder to come easy. That was the case, as the host Trojans fell 6-2 in their quarterfinal best-of-three series opener.

These two were evenly matched when playing one another during the 2022-23 campaign, proven by the Trojans outscoring them ever so marginally 19-16 throughout their four regular season contests. As this game proved, though they finished eight points behind the Trojans in the standings, this Thunder team is tough to beat when they are at their best.

The first period in this one was the Boston Bilous show, as the Trojans goaltender made several fantastic saves early on to keep the score at zeroes. Perhaps his best work came around the 15-minute mark, as he and his teammates were forced to kill off a Tanner Sidaway penalty, during which time Bilous made several 10-bell saves.

The Trojans seemed to gain some energy after killing off Sidaway's minor, and had several great chances of their own on Griffin Bowerman, but he too was up to the task. By the time the horn sounded to end the first, the score remained knotted at zero a piece with the Thunder holding a slight 16-12 lead in shots.

The game didn't remain scoreless long into the second, as less than five minutes in Lukas Konashuk fed a fantastic pass out front to Krz Plummer who made no mistake, firing it past the glove hand of Bilous. The Trojans then got into some penalty trouble, as Carson Welke was called for goalie interference. That minor proved costly, as Tyler Schendel was able to get in alone and made a fantastic move around Bilous to extend the lead to 2-0.

Moments later, SAIT's Brett Trentham found himself in front of the Thunder net with a yawning cage, but fired it back into the pads of an out of position Bowerman. The Thunder made him pay, as almost immediately afterward they took the puck the other way and were able to make it a 3-0 lead off the stick of Zachery Carlson.

The lack of discipline continued for the Trojans, as Carson Welke took his second minor of the period, this a four-minute minor for spearing, though his teammates were able to kill it off. Shortly after the kill, Machado was able to give the Trojans some life, as he slid a shot from the slot past Bowerman with just 35 seconds remaining in the frame.

The Trojans came out flying to start the third, and had several great opportunities to close the gap to one. However, as he did all night long, Bowerman stood his ground and made a fantastic blocker stop.

At the midway point of the third, Rylan Nivon was the recipient of a broken play in the Trojans end that wound up on his stick in the slot. He made no mistake, firing it past the blocker of Bilous to extend the lead by two. The Thunder weren't done there, as Grayson Reid fired home a one timer through the wickets of Bilous on a terrific pass from Keegan Tiringer.

The Trojans would cut into the lead momentarily, as Trentham attempted a pass from behind the net which went off a Thunder defenseman and past a helpless Bowerman. That was as close as they would get, as Tiringer was able to restore the four goal lead on an empty net.

This was certainly a disappointing opening game of the playoffs for the Trojans, but if there is anything they can take into Game 2, it is the fact they ran into a red hot goalie. By the time the horn sounded, they had fired 49 shots on Bowerman, who was as locked in as it gets.

Tomorrow's game at the Clareview Arena in Edmonton will be a do or die for the Trojans, as their season will come to an end in rather shocking fashion if they are unable to pull out a victory. With a win, they will return to Winsport for a winner takes all Game 3 on Sunday.