Files from U of A Sports Information
EDMONTON - The end the result didn't resemble an Emily Carr, but they can't all be masterpieces, as the no. 1 ranked University of Alberta Golden Bears skated to a 5-2 win Friday night over the UBC Thunderbirds at Clare Drake Arena in Edmonton.
Alberta got goals from five different skaters as Sean Ringrose, Lindsay Nielsen, Chad Klassen, Greg Gardner and Eric Hunter all beat UBC goalie
Jordan White. Klassen, the Canada West points leader, notched his 13 goal of the season, while Ringrose, a CIS all-rookie team member last season, picked up an assist to finish with two points on the night, upping his season total to 19.
Marc Desloges picked up his fourth goal of the year for the T-Birds, while Justin McRae added a power-play tally in the third period.
Freshman Alberta goalie Kurtis Mucha made 25 saves for his conference leading eighth win.
The Golden Bears had to overcome a sluggish start, and a Thunderbird team that tried to stifle the Bears at every turn. UBC has had some recent success against the Golden Bears with that game plan, winning here in Edmonton in February of 2010, as well as in 2008, and also scoring a win earlier this year in Vancouver.
The game started with decent flow, including a four minute stretch with no whistles, but neither team accomplished much in the beginning of the period. As the opening frame came to a close, the teams combined for two goals in a 1:22 span, shaking the 707 fans at Clare Drake Arena out of their doldrums.
Desloges, a fourth-year forward from Vancouver, opened the scoring, beating Mucha up and under the crossbar on the glove side at the 16:18 mark. Moments before the goal Mucha had to stare down a UBC breakaway, but the puck remained in the zone, as Alberta had a tough time clearing it, and eventually the puck found its way onto the tape of Desloges' stick and into the Alberta mesh.
The Golden Bears got a bit of 'puck luck' to tie the score at 17:40, when Ian Barteaux's point shot ricocheted off Ringrose as he was skating in front of White, and into the UBC net.
Alberta scored a pair of goals in the second, starting with freshman Lindsay Nielsen's first career Canada West goal at the 7:56 mark of the second, and then Klassen's 53 career Canada West goal four minutes later on the power-play.
McRae drew the Birds to within one at 3:38 of the third, scoring with the extra attacker, but goals by Gardner, his fourth in the last three games, counting non-conference, and captain Eric Hunter sealed the deal for the Bears.
The two teams meet again tomorrow night at Clare Drake Arena.
-30-
