It came down to the wire but the Red Deer Polytechnic Kings came out victorious in Game 1 in the ACAC Men’s Hockey Championship semi-finals.
With the game tied 2-2 heading into the third period against the Alberta-Augustana Vikings, Kings Erik Miller scored early in the frame on the powerplay to take the lead.
The Kings survived a late push from Vikings to hold on for the 3-2 victory at the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre.
Head coach Trevor Keeper said the team worked hard and played well. However, he noticed some repeat mistakes from his team that they need to clean up.
“Maybe because of fatigue. We were down one player with three lines and a couple extra guys. In the third period, they turned it up a bit and we tried to stay ahead on hits, shots, and faceoff wins,” he said.
“We knew it was going to be a close game. Those guys have speed… I thought we did a good job of not panicking in the end.”
The Vikings scored the lone goal of the first period scored by Owen Lamb. However, the Kings answered near the 13-minute mark of the second period on the powerplay off the stick of Hayden Clayton.
The Vikings reclaimed the lead less than a minute later but Kings captain Chance Longjohn tied it at two later in the period. That set up Miller’s third-period heroics.
The Kings now have the opportunity to advance to the league finals with a win on Saturday night in Game 2. The game will be played in Camrose at Alberta-Augustana University where the Kings can wrap up the best-of-three series.
“We had a bye weekend so we haven’t played in two weeks. I think on Saturday we just have to get that rhythm established early and try to find a way to recover from the fatigue tonight,” Keeper added.
“We just have to focus on the process goals tomorrow and not worry about winning the series. If we have a solid game the results usually take care of themselves.”
