No love lost between bitter Rivals
Curtis Taylor
A full eight months removed from their epic ACAC championship, the SAIT Trojans and MRU Cougars took to the ice once again this past weekend.
And although there were plenty of new faces this time around, but the inner city rivalry certainly lived up to its expectations.
“It was a lot fun,” said first year Trojans forward Nolan Souchotte, who got his first taste of the MRU SAIT rivalry.
“You always hear about the rivalry, I didn’t really know what to expect, and it was exactly like everyone talked about, intense and great hockey.”
The Trojans were embarrassed in their home rink on Friday, losing the opening game by a score of 8-4. It was a physical affair, with both teams combining for 191 penalty minutes in the first game alone.
The Trojans seemed very frustrated at times, taking undisciplined penalties, which ultimately led to their downfall.
“I think our hearts were there (on Friday) but maybe our minds weren’t because we were just too wound up from the eight months,” said head coach Ken Babey.
“When you’re going in with all that emotion and you get down a couple goals there’s a big drop, I wasn’t happy with our performance and I don’t think the guys were after.”
The Trojans had little time to regroup following the loss, and knew they had to come out with a better effort in the second game at Mount Royal.
Ken Babey’s message to the team following the loss was simple.
“Simplify the game, relax, and play hard. These guys are good hockey players, just play. I told the guys they were maybe a little ripe for the picking after that 8-4 loss, I’m happy with the way we responded.”
After jumping out to an early 3-0 lead, the Trojans never looked back, eventually taking the game by a score of 7-1.
“We realized in the second game that we just had to calm down and stick to the system, and that really paid off for us,” said Souchotte.
On this night, it was the Cougars’ turn to be undisciplined. The Trojans kept their composure and took advantage of this, going 4/11 on the powerplay, and put the game out of reach in the second period.
“Discipline is huge and there’s going to be games where things aren’t going our way at the start, we may need to battle back and come back in the game, and we have to be able to do that down the stretch,” said Trojans forward Clinton Pettapiece.
“When you are staying disciplined you are more calm emotionally and you tend to play a little better on the ice.”
Babey was very pleased with the way his team responded, and thinks it will help their confidence moving forward.
“I’m building on that game as a coach, it’s a big rebound game, to emotionally turn it around in 24 hours I think was pretty good for a young team.”
Matt Stefanishion carried the Trojans offensively over the weekend, recording two goals and two assists in each of the games. The eight points over the weekend series gives him 20 points on the season in just eight games played, and now sits second in ACAC scoring one point behind teammate Clinton Pettapiece.
The MRU Cougars currently sit atop the ACAC standings with 24 points, and the Trojans sit tied for second with Augustana, three points back of MRU with a game in hand.
The two teams will play again in the final two games of the season. Trojan and Cougar fans alike can expect a much closer matchup next time around, as both teams will try to build off their convincing road wins.
“I can’t wait to play them again,” said Pettapiece.
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