Briercrest Wins a Thriller in OT

By Sam and Jeremy Demoskoff

The Briercrest Clippers demonstrated substantial growth this weekend. They have thrived in the role of the tenacious underdog this season, but they seemed to find it difficult to manufacture the same intensity as the favourites for a series against the Augustana Vikings. Saturday afternoon provided the opportunity for redemption after a tough loss the night before, and Briercrest capitalized in the most dramatic fashion possible.

Once again, the Vikings started out strong as they outshot the Clippers in the first period and were rewarded with a pair of goals by Cameron Shorrock and Kyle Ford. It could have been worse if not for some heroics by Dominik Tmej, who turned away a dangerous chance when an Augustana forward was sent in alone.

The Vikings carried the momentum into the start of the second period, but that's when the tide turned. Led by Caleb Grandfield and Reagen Poncelet, the Clippers showed increased urgency as the threat of a crushing weekend sweep loomed. They outshot the guests by an astonishing margin: 17-3. Still, it looked like the Vikings might escape into the second intermission with a padded lead after a late powerplay gave them the opportunity to put the game away.

That's when Brandon Kelly turned in an unforgettable individual performance on the penalty kill, stripping the puck from a Viking attacker and racing the length of the ice before ripping a shot past Augustana's Daniel Moody. The pent-up passion of the fans erupted and the Clippers cut the deficit to 2-1 going into the third.

Fans urged on their team as play got back underway, and they weren't disappointed. Halen Cordoni had a great chance, but Moody made a great pad save to keep Augustana ahead. Caleb Dolman, Zach Thususka, and Cole Stevenson had a great shift to pin the Vikings in their own zone, but they couldn't quite find the equalizer. Caleb Grandfield set up Zach Ashworth for another glorious chance, but once again Moody was there.

Briercrest's mettle was once again tested as they had to kill off a lengthy 5 on 3 powerplay, but Dominik Tmej was solid and they kept the Vikings at bay. 

Briercrest just wouldn't give up. Zach Anderson pounced on a turnover and fed the puck in the slot to Colton Aikens. He made no mistake and buried it to tie the game and send Barkman arena into a frenzy. 

Overtime saw some chances both ways as the teams played five minutes of four-on-four followed by five minutes of three-on-three. The clock was winding down to the final seconds when Caleb Dolman and Zach Anderson tick-tacked to Trey Doell in the slot. He rifled a low shot past Moody to the deafening roar of the crowd.

Doell commented on the shift in mindset the team went through on the weekend: "That was a good effort, a good response from Friday night… We weren't going to come away without any points this weekend- that's for sure."

Player of the game for Augustana was Daniel Moody. Briercrest's player of the game, Colton Aikens, was all smiles afterwards: "It feels really good… the boys are buzzing right now."

The Clippers will board the bus for their final regular-season road trip next week, before coming back to face NAIT on February 25-26.