PHOTO: Target Photography
Another comeback attempt for the Spruce Grove Saints fell just short on Saturday night as they dropped a 6-2 decision to the Sherwood Park Crusaders at the Sherwood Park Arena.
Brandon Funk and Felix Haibock tallied their first career BCHL goals as the Saints attempted to trek their way back from a three-goal deficit in the opening period of the game, which began just 1:38 seconds into action as Kent Moors put the home side ahead by a 1-0 score, redirecting a puck off his backhand past the blocker side of Ryan De Kok in the Saints net to give the Crusaders the early advantage.
Danick St. Pierre pushed the advantage to a pair of goals from the Crusaders before Joseph Sinclair tapped in a backdoor pass to complete a three goal lead for Sherwood Park coming in the first seven and a half minutes of the game, which sparked a timeout from the Saints bench in order to rally the troops.
That timeout worked as the Saints collected their first goal of the night with Funk knocking in his first BCHL tally, jamming a puck over the goal line on a Frederic Deschenes redirection toward the net and the right-handed catching glove side of Filip Vavro to get the Saints on the scoreboard.
Spruce Grove cut the deficit to just a marker as Haibock was able to finish off a play at the front of the net, taking an Adam Perron shot off the left pad of Vavro and banking it in over the shoulders of the goaltender to make it a 3-2 game and get the Saints back within a goal.
A late 5-on-3 power play goal for the Crusaders with just seven seconds remaining in the 2nd period took some air out of the Saints momentum with Gleb Semenko burying a one-time shot from the right face-off circle that gave the Crusaders a two-goal lead into the final period.
Quincy Supprien and Kent Moors finished off the scoring for Sherwood Park in the late stages of the game as the Saints dropped their second game of the weekend by a 6-2 score. De Kok made 39 saves on 45 shots in his second loss of the season while Vavro earned his first win of the season, turning aside 20 of the 22 shots thrown his way.
The Saints are back in action on Friday night for their second game in Thompson Family Arena as they get set to host the Salmon Arm Silverbacks for the first time this season. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 PM with tickets available for purchase online at tickets.sgsaints.ca.
