JANUARY 12, 2014 — CASTLEGAR, B.C. — The Selkirk College Men’s Hockey program kicked off the second half of their 2013/14 campaign with their 20th consecutive home victory, topping North Dakota-based Williston State College by a 6-2 score on Sunday afternoon at the Castlegar Recreation Complex.
The Saints opened the scoring against the defending National Junior College Athletic Association champions just 1:14 into regulation when Cody Fidgett snapped a shot past Tetons netminder Tyler Ampe. And with 1:30 remaining in the period, Darnell Dyck doubled the Selkirk lead when he beat a pair of Williston blueliners before beating Ampe on a partial breakaway.
The Tetons pushed back during a penalty-filled second period but couldn’t beat Saints goaltender Chris Hurry, who made 13 saves in the frame. And Selkirk added a third goal late in the period when Beau Taylor scored from the low slot off a passing play from linemates Scott Swiston and Connor McLaughlin.
Selkirk put the game out of reach early in the third period when Logan Proulx and McLaughlin scored on back-to-back power-play opportunities before Taylor extended the lead to six minutes later. But Williston State scored a pair of goals in the latter half of the frame off the sticks of Dario Torres and Trevor Hunt.
Hurry made 26 saves and picked up the win in goal for the Saints, while Ampe allowed six goals on 34 shots.
“It was important that we came out strong off a long lay-off and the guys worked hard against a tough opponent,” says Saints head coach Jeff Dubois. “Williston State has a hard-working group with a lot of big bodies, and they made us earn everything we got in the offensive zone. There was definitely a bit of rust in certain areas, but that was to be expected. We’ll have a good week of practice before tough games next weekend.”
Selkirk resumes their B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League regular season on Friday in Kamloops against Thompson Rivers University before heading to Burnaby to face Simon Fraser University on Saturday.
The Saints are currently tied with SFU and TRU for first place in the league standings with 20 points each. Selkirk and SFU have both played 13 games and have a pair of games in hand on Thompson Rivers.
Selkirk will play their first regular season home game of 2014 on Friday, January 24th against Eastern Washington University.
