Vikes Up 1-0 in Playoff Action

For the first time in history, the Vikes hosted a playoff game at the Ian Stewart Complex last night, to kick off a best-of-3 series vs. no.1 seed Simon Fraser University.

The first frame only saw one goal scored by Brandon Tidy for the SFU Clan, after a giveaway in the Vikes’ defensive zone. The Vikes entered the first intermission knowing that focus needed to be regained, and energy needed to be increased. The second period increased in action for both teams, starting with a Patrick Holland marker from the hash marks, tying the score at 1 apiece. The game didn’t stay tied for long when less than a minute later the Clan’s Adam Callegari put the puck past Vikes goaltender Zach Wear. Brandon Tidy followed up with another Clan goal, his second of the evening. The energy seemed to shift when Zach Wear made an incredible save on a Brandon Tidy point shot, which seemed to spark the Vikes to get back in the game. “After Zach’s massive save, all of our energy shifted. We started making smart plays and it became fun and exciting hockey again,” Jack Palmer explained. Without wasting time, the Vikes proceeded to score three unanswered goals at the end of the second frame; goal scorers were Jack Palmer, Shawn Mueller, and Noah Henry.

The third period saw Wear continue his dominant outing in net. Wear made several game saving stops, which was an impressive athletic display for his first BCIHL playoff game. “It’s my one focus during the game to make sure I see every single release, every single lane,” said Wear when asked how he managed to track the puck through an increased amount of traffic in front of his net. Wear finished the game with 28 saves on 31 shots faced.

The fifth goal for the Vikes was scored by alternate captain Shawn Mueller, with the empty net dagger scored with one second left on the clock by Patrick Holland; final score: 6-3 UVic. Both teams travel to the mainland today to play Game 2 at the Bill Copeland Sports Centre. Tune into HockeyTV and watch the Vikes take on the Clan tonight, puck drop is at 7:00pm.