U SPORTS Finishes Undefeated Against Canada’s World Junior Team

A couple of University of Alberta players stole the show as the U SPORTS all-star team swept Canada's World Junior squad in St. Catharines this week, capped off with a 4-3 win today.

An early penalty wouldn't stop Canada from taking the 1-0 lead, just a day after getting shut out 3-0. At 3:42, Ottawa Senators prospect Alex Formenton found himself in the right spot at the right time after a shorthanded effort by Nick Suzuki, picking the puck up in the slot and firing it past Samuel Harvey to make it 1-0 early in the contest.

With 17:43 done in the contest, U SPORTS took the 2-0 lead. Cole Sanford would get the marker on the breakaway after taking a feed from Stephen Harper and sending it between Carter Hart's pads, good enough to send the game into the first period tied at one apiece.

At 1:41, U SPORTS took their second lead of the week. This time, Spencer Abraham finished off a good passing play from Jason Fram and Luke Philp, two Alberta Golden Bears players who made an impact on Wednesday evening. Abraham would pot home the goal after being the last player to grab the puck, giving U Sports the surprising 2-1 lead after Canada looked a little better early on.

Canada would knot the game up at two apiece less than three minutes later. Kale Clague would score from the point after using Rob Thomas as a screen in front of the net, beating Harvey to make it 2-2. 

The back and forth hockey action continued at the 7:50 mark in the third. Once again, Sanford found the back of the net thanks to a great pass from Philp, beating Colton Point for his first goal allowed after a great second half to the second period.

At 13:09, Canada tied it up once again. This time, it was Thomas who would beat Michael DiPietro, with Clague being the source of the play in the first place.But with seven seconds left in the game, Fram's power play goal off of a too many men penalty resulted in U SPORTS sweeping the two-game series against Canada, winning the game 4-3.

Canada will make their first round of cuts tonight, prior to their 2:00 PM meeting with Denmark at the Meridian Centre to finish off action in St. Catharines.

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