By Terry Martin
The Saints and Wolverines took each other on for game 3 of the North division semi-final on Wednesday night. Spruce Grove has already won the first 2 games at the Grant Fuhr Arena to take the lead in the series. After winning game 1 in OT, the Saints would go onto win game 2, 3-1 in regular time.
The first period of the game saw the Saints go on the penalty kill early as Caleb MacDonald would score on the opportunity with 12:23 left in the period. The Saints would fight back with a goal of their own as Jacob Rochford would roof the puck from the slot with 8 minutes remaining in the frame. Rochford would then score his 2nd of the game, stuffing home the rebound to give the Saints a 2-1 lead. Luigi Benincasa then scored the Saints 3rd goal, firing the puck short side after a great faceoff play. The Saints would find themselves up 3-1 and severely outshooting the Wolverines 19-6.
The Saints would pick up right where they left off as Jayden Davis scores just under 2 minutes into the middle frame. Caden Cabana would then find himself in front of the net after a scramble and he would put home the rebound to give the Saints the 5-1 lead. Niko Jovanovic and Brett Pfoh would then score within seconds of each other to put the Saints up by 6 goals with 4 minutes remaining in the 2nd period. The Saints would lead 7-1 after 40 minutes and would again lead in shots, more than doubling up the Wolverines 36-15.
Caleb MacDonald would open the scoring 1 minute into the final period, scoring his 2nd goal of the game on a power play opportunity. Caiden Gault would get that goal back, roofing the puck just 11 seconds into another one of their own power plays. Rochford would then score his hat trick goal with 9 minutes remaining in the game to put the Saints up 9-2. Spruce Grove holds on for the win and outshoot the Wolverines 50-26 after 60 minutes of play.
The Saints and Wolverines are back at it again for game 4 on Thursday, as Spruce Grove looks to sweep the series and punch their ticket to the North Final.