Golden Bears Update Week 13

Last weekend the then 8th ranked Golden Bears played a home and home series with the then 6th ranked Mount Royal University Cougars. Alberta came to play and swept their dreaded southern rivals to vault into 6th position and drop the Cougars to 9th in the U Sports national rankings. The two game sweep set the table for a pivotal home series against the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns this weekend. Alberta needs 6 points over the remaining 4 games to clinch 2nd spot in the Canada West standings.

Rookie Brendan Burke got the call from coach Serge Lajoie to open the series on the road in Calgary. The Cougars managed a 1 goal lead heading into the second period when Jamie Crooks, who had slowed from a torrid first half pace, and Tyson Baillie exploded for a goal and an assist each. The Bears headed into the final frame up 3-2 and Taylor Cooper added the final nail on a feed from Todd Fiddler to put Alberta up 4-2. Riley Kieser added an empty net goal and the Golden Bears returned to Edmonton with a 5-2 victory. The shots were 33-29 in favour of the Golden Bears.

Alberta managed to complete the sweep Saturday at the Clare Drake. Once again the Cougars opened the scoring only to be met with a response from the veteran Jamie Crooks. The opening period ended in a 1-1 draw. Mount Royal took the lead in the second on a goal from Tanner Olstad which was responded to with goals from the Alberta’s Rhett Rachinski and Luke Philp. Rachinski added another, to go along with a goal from Jason Fram, in the third to give the Golden Bears a 5-3 victory. Brendan Burke was in the crease again for Alberta making 31 saves on the 34 shots he faced. The shots were 36-34 in favour of Alberta.

Notes

• Brendan Burke appears to be taking over the Golden Bears’ crease. He now owns a 7-3 record with a 1.73 GAA and a 0.932 SP%.
• As mentioned in previous posts, it has been an impressive recruiting class for the Bears this season. 4 Rookies are in the top 10 for team scoring this season (Baillie, Philp, Cox, and Craig)

Up Next

Alberta plays a 2 game series at the Clare Drake against the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns this weekend. The puck drops at 7pm on Friday. The Saturday rematch starts at 6pm. Ticket information can be found here. Both games can be watched online at canadawest.tv.