After scoring all three goals in a 3-1 victory in Game 1 of the BC Intercollegiate Hockey League final Friday, Selkirk College forward Ryan Edwards would net the winner on Saturday to propel the Saints to their third straight title with a 4-2 win over Simon Fraser University at the Castlegar Rec Complex.
Former Trail Smoke Eater Darnell Dyck intercepted a failed clearing attempt and hit Edwards at the side of the net for a tap in to put the Saints up 3-1 at with 3:12 left in the period. It was Edwards’, a Beaver Valley Nitehawk Keystone Cup champion, sixth playoff goal in four games to lead all BCIHL shooters.
Thomas Hardy opened the scoring on a fine individual effort on the power play, taking a pass from Jamie Vlanich and making a move to the slot then backhanding it by SFU goalie Jordan Liem. But SFU’s Jared Eng would draw the Clan even four minutes into the middle frame, before Trail native Vlanich put the Saints up 2-1 on a nice pass from Lucas Hildebrand.
After Edwards made it 3-1, the Saints would stifle the SFU attack in the third with the Saints Ryan Procyshin scoring into an empty net, before SFU made it 4-2 with just 20 seconds left on the clock.
Selkirk College outshot the Clan 28-23, as Saints goalie James Prigone won his fourth consecutive playoff game. Vlanich was the games’ first star, while Prigone and Hardy garnered second and third star honours. Selkirk beat UVic in two straight games last weekend, while SFU dispatched the heavily favoured number one seed Trinity Western University to set up the BCIHL final.
