La Brier Family Arena, Sept. 27, 2025 — St. Andrew's College overcame a slow start and a red-hot opposing goaltender to earn a hard-fought 4–2 victory over Victory Honda in Saturday's second half of the double set.
Despite generating 18 shots in the first two periods, the Saints were repeatedly denied by Victory Honda netminder Carter Gardocki, who frustrated the SAC attack with a series of highlight-reel saves. "He was dialed in early," said forward Jake Di Capo. "We just kept telling ourselves to stay patient and keep pressing."
That persistence paid off midway through the second period when James Roy finally broke the deadlock at 10:23, finishing a crisp passing play from Di Capo and Alex Carscadden. The floodgates opened from there — Luca Diplacido added a second goal just four minutes later, assisted by Andy Huang and Nate Feiner, and Jacob Bultje made it 3–0 with a snipe at 3:37, set up by Carscadden and Di Capo.
Victory Honda mounted a push in the third, scoring twice to cut the lead to one, but Cooper Bordeaux iced the game with a clutch insurance goal at 2:14, assisted by Hayden Stroud and Nolan Long.
Goaltender Chase Petrova was solid throughout, stopping 26 of 28 shots. "They had some dangerous looks, especially late," Petrova said. "But our D did a great job clearing rebounds and letting me see the puck."
Captain Finn Kearns praised the team's resilience: "We didn't panic when we couldn't score early. We trusted our game plan and stuck with it. That's the kind of maturity we've been working toward."
Coach Kevin Gate echoed that sentiment: "We had to work to create chances early, but the guys stayed composed. Once we broke through, we played with confidence and control."
The Saints will look to build on this momentum as they continue their season campaign October 7-8 in Sudbury, Ontario at the North Ontario Junior Hockey League Showcase.