Box Score EDMONTON – Freshman Riley Kieser scored the game winning goal at 8:55 of the third period as the No.1 ranked University of Alberta Golden Bears men's hockey team picked up a weekend sweep thanks to a 3-2 win over the Manitoba Bisons on Saturday, November 29 at Clare Drake Arena.
The win, coupled with a 5-3 victory on Friday, sends the Bears into the Christmas and exam break with a 15-3-0 record, as well as top billing in the Canada West standings. The Bears are now four points up on the second place Calgary Dinos, and six points ahead of third place Mount Royal.
Manitoba, meanwhile, sees its record drop to 8-10-0, which positions them third last in the conference in sixth spot. They are three points up on seventh place Regina, however, and a full 10 points ahead of last place Lethbridge.
Kieser, a former Edmonton Oil King, scored the game winner, and it was a trio of former Oil Kings that did the rest of the damage for the Bears as the line of Jordan Hickmott, T.J. Foster and former Oil King captain Rhett Rachinski combined for five points. Both Hickmott and Foster notched a goal and assist in the contest. Sophomore goalie Luke Siemens made 13 saves for his fifth win of the season.
Jordan DePape picked up a goal and assist for the Bisons, while Shaquille Merasty, a contender for best name in CIS, also scored. Goaltender Devan Dubyk made 30 saves in the loss.
Merasty broke the scoreless deadlock at 19:39 of the opening period when he benefited from a turn over behind the Golden Bears net, and then beat Siemens along the ice with a wrap-around.
The Bears recorded a season low six shots in the first period.
Hickmott put Alberta back on even terms at 5:48 of the second when he buried a one-timer past Dubyk following some great hustle and a perfect pass from Rachinski. The tally represented Hickmott's CIS leading 14th goal of the season, as well as his 29th point.
Less than three minutes later, Foster gave the Bears their first lead of the game when he took a feed from Jordan Rowley and sniped top corner behind Dubyk's glove.
Shortly after Alberta gained the lead, they were faced with seven minutes of penalty kill time, including a five minute Bisons power-play, but amazingly they managed to kill off the entire seven consecutive minutes of shorthanded hockey, and didn't even allow a shot against. They even managed to outshoot Manitoba 13-4 in the middle frame for a 19-10 advantage through 40 minutes.
The Bisons, however, tied the game at 3:12 of the third period when DePape beat Siemens for his eighth of the season, and 17th point.
But Kieser snapped the eventual game winner, with assists going to Levko Koper and Johnny Lazo, at 8:55 of the third, while Siemens made a pair of hair-raising saves late in the period to preserve the victory.
Both teams are now done with conference play for the 2014 calendar year. They'll take a break for the Christmas and university exam season, but return to action over the January 3-4 weekend in 2015. Alberta will host the Calgary Dinos on January 3, as part of a home-and-home series, while the Bisons will host the UBC Thunderbirds on Jan. 3-4 weekend.
