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GAME 3 POOL A: CIS championship: Power play propels No. 1 Bears to U Cup final
THUNDER BAY, Ont. (CIS) – Chad Klassen scored two of Alberta's four power-play goals as the top-seeded Golden Bears defeated the tournament host Lakehead Thunderwolves 5-3 on Saturday night at Fort William Gardens to advance to the CIS men's hockey University Cup final.
University Cup website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/mice
Game photos http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/mice/2009-10/files/photos_3
Highlights http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/mice/2009-10/releases/20100325-videos
The Canada West champion Bears, who opened the championship with a 4-2 win over UQTR on Thursday, finish the preliminary round atop the Pool A standings with a 2-0 mark and will face the No. 3 Saint Mary's Huskies (2-0) for CIS gold Sunday at 7 p.m., live on Rogers Sportsnet and SSN Canada.
Alberta holds the all-time record of 13 national titles and will be making a CIS-record 18th appearance in the title match.
The OUA finalist Thunderwolves, which beat UQTR 7-2 on Friday, end the tourney at 1-1.
Power plays were the name of the game in the Pool A finale as Alberta capitalized on four of seven opportunities, while Lakehead finished 3-for-7 with the man advantage.
"Obviously in playoffs special teams play a big part," said Alberta head coach Eric Thurston, who has led his troops to a pair of University Cup titles in his first four campaigns at the helm. "Maybe it's not so much the percentage as it is the timing of when you score on the power play, which is crucial in finding a way to get it done. That's what we did tonight."
Klassen, a first-team all-Canadian and the Canada West MVP this season, was named player of the match for the victors after he scored the Bears second goal early in the second period and the game-winner 9:10 into the third.
Freshman Sean Ringrose of Edmonton, second-team all-Canadian defenceman Kyle Fecho of Hanna, Alta., and Ian McDonald of Edmonton also found the back of the net for Alberta, which turned a 1-1 deadlock after 20 minutes into a 3-2 advantage after two periods, and went up by three goals midway through the third.
McDonald added an assist while Eric Hunter of Oakbank, Man., and Derek Ryan of Spokane, Wash., had two assists apiece.
"We didn't have a good start in the first 10 minutes but "Yonks" (Travis Yonkman) made some big saves, and we were able to weather the storm," said Klassen.
"I was probably the happiest guy in the building to get a couple of goals tonight. Coming out off of a concussion, I was a little worried and tentative in the first game, but I finally got my legs back tonight and I should be good to go in the final," added Klassen, who missed the last game of the conference final after being injured in the previous contest.
Rearguard Ryan Baird of Thunder Bay opened the scoring 2:58 into the contest for Lakehead, while senior forward Brock McPherson of Brampton, Ont., notched his second and third of the championship.
First-year goaltender Travis Yonkman of Saskatoon made 23 saves in the win, while fellow rookie Alex Dupuis of Thunder Bay was peppered with 41 shots, including a 21-5 Alberta advantage in the middle stanza.
"We took some undisciplined penalties and those always end up hurting you," said first-year Lakehead bench boss Joel Scherban. "After that, our team lost its composure a little and made some bad puck decisions... and things unraveled from there."
Baird opened the scoring during a power play less than three minutes into the duel. Dan Speer cut to the net and the puck bounced to Baird, who beat Yonkman with a quick shot on the blocker side.
Yonkman kept his team in the game early on with numerous key saves as Lakehead had eight of the first nine shots. His best save of the first stanza came against Kris Hogg, whom he stoned from up close by stretching his left pad.
With five minutes remaining in the opening frame, Alberta went on a two-man advantage and needed only 21 seconds to tie the affair. Stationed at the left post, Ringrose received a perfect pass from Hunter and pushed the puck into an empty cage at 15:04.
Back from the intermission, Lakehead took two more quick penalties and once again the Bears made the locals pay.
Klassen was sent flying down the right wing by Ian Barteaux and wired a slapshot from the circle that fooled Dupuis stick side at 4:53.
The power-play festival resumed 10 minutes later. With the visitors stuck in their zone for over a minute, Scott Dobben won a battle in the corner, found McPherson all alone in front, and the sniper made no mistake, connecting from 15 feet out.
Not to be outdone, the Bears retreated to the locker room with a 3-2 lead thanks to another 5-on-4 goal scored with eight seconds left on the clock.
After Hunter and Jesse Gimblett did most of the work in the corner, Fecho fired a low shot from the left circle that deflected on a skate and into the net.
The Bears doubled their lead at 9:10 of the third period, once again thanks to the man advantage. Klassen tallied his second of the evening at the end of a tic-tac-toe play initiated by McDonald and Ryan.
McDonald made it 5-2 just over three minutes later after he took a nice feed from behind the net from Greg Gardner. It was the first even strength goal of the game.
McPherson gave some hope to the T-Wolves faithful with 4:47 to go but it was too little too late for Lakehead.
GAME NOTES: Alberta's last appearance in the University Cup final came in 2008 in Moncton when the Bears edged UNB 3-2 to win a record 13th title... Alberta improved to 5-0 lifetime against Lakehead at the tournament including a 2-1 win in pool play a year ago and a 3-2 victory in the 2006 national final... The Bears are 3-1 against Saint Mary's at the University Cup including a 5-3 win in the 1969 consolation final, a 4-3 loss in the 1972 semifinals and a two-game sweep of a best-of-three semifinal in 1977, 5-4 and 7-1... Saint Mary's played in four straight national finals from 1970 to 1973 but lost each time to the Toronto Varsity Blues by 3-2, 5-4, 5-0 and 3-2...
SCORING SUMMARY
Alberta 5, Lakehead 3
FIRST PERIOD
SCORING:
1. LAK Ryan Baird (1) (Dan Speer, Matt Caria), 2:58 PP
2. ALB Sean Ringrose (1) (Eric Hunter, Colin Joe), 15:04 PP
PENALTIES:
Ian McDonald (ALB) hooking, 2:33;
Mark Ashton (ALB) interference, 6:22;
Jesse Gimblett (ALB) unsportsmanlike conduct, 12:48;
Kris Hogg (LAK) unsportsmanlike conduct, 12:48;
Jordan Smith (LAK) hooking, 13:18;
Mark Soares (LAK) tripping, 14:43;
Colin Joe (ALB) checking from behind, minor, game misconduct,
16:04.
SECOND PERIOD
SCORING:
3. ALB Chad Klassen (1) (Ian Barteaux, Derek Ryan), 4:53 PP
4. LAK Brock McPherson (2) (Scott Dobben), 14:06 PP
5. ALB Kyle Fecho (1) (Eric Hunter), 19:52 PP
PENALTIES:
Jordan Smith (LAK) closing hand on puck, 0:11;
Andy Zulyniak (LAK) hooking, 4:37;
Pierre Marc Guilbault (LAK) slashing, 7:11;
Dale Mahovsky (ALB) hooking, 13:03;
Dan Speer (LAK) hooking, 18:24.
THIRD PERIOD
SCORING:
6. ALB Chad Klassen (2) (Ian McDonald, Derek Ryan), 9:10 PP
7. ALB Ian McDonald (1) (Greg Gardner), 12:37
8. LAK Brock McPherson (3) (Andy Zulyniak), 15:13 PP
PENALTIES:
Bench (ALB - served by Jean-Pierre Szaszkiewicz) too many men,
6:16;
Pierre Marc Guilbault (LAK) slashing, 8:31;
Chad Klassen (ALB) slashing, 13:17;
Jesse Gimblett (ALB) cross checking, 15:50.
GOALS (by period)
ALB: 1-2-2:5
LAK: 1-1-1:3
SHOTS ON GOAL (by period)
ALB: 11-21-9: 41
LAK: 9-5-12:26
POWER PLAY:
ALB: 4-7
LAK: 3-7
GOALTENDERS
ALB – Travis Yonkman (W, 2-0, 26 shots, 23 saves, 3 GA,
60:00)
LAK – Alex Dupuis (L, 1-1, 41 shots, 36 saves, 5 GA,
58:45)
LAK – Empty net (0 GA, 1:15)
PLAYERS OF THE GAME:
ALB: Chad Klassen
LAK: Brock McPherson
REFEREE: Graham Skilliter
LINESMEN: Andrew Hubbard, Jesse Wilmot
ATTENDANCE: 3,036
START: 7:08
END: 9:35
LENGTH: 2:23
POOLS, SCHEDULE & RESULTS
Pool A
1. Alberta
4. Lakehead
6. UQTR
Pool B
2. McGill
3. Saint Mary's
5. Manitoba
Pool A standings (FINAL)
GP W L GF GA PTS
1. Alberta 2 2 0 9 5 4
2. Lakehead 2 1 1 10 7 2
3. UQTR 2 0 2 4 11 0
Pool B standings (FINAL)
1. SMU 2 2 0 9 2 4
2. Manitoba 2 1 1 5 9 2
3. McGill 2 0 2 6 9 0
Thursday, March 25
Pool B #1: Manitoba 5, McGill 4 (OT)
Pool A #1: Alberta 4, UQTR 2
Friday, March 26
Pool B #2: Saint Mary's 4, McGill 2
Pool A #2: Lakehead 7, UQTR 2
Saturday, March 27
Pool B #3: Saint Mary's 5, Manitoba 0
Pool A #3: Alberta 5, Lakehead 3
Sunday, March 28
19:00 University Cup Final: Saint Mary's vs. Alberta
(Rogers Sportsnet / SSN Canada webcast)
-CIS-
