It was a night that UNBC goalkeeper Logan Pierce won’t soon forget.
Friday night at Masich Place Stadium in Prince George, the UNBC Timberwolves (0-2-1) earned a hard-fought single point in a 0-0 draw with the Victoria Vikes (2-0-1).
Pierce, the second-year goalkeeper for UNBC was spectacular turning aside 12 Victoria shots – many of which were of the ‘Grade A’ variety, en route to his first ever Canada West clean sheet.
Four of Pierce’s 12 stops came off the reigning Player of the Week in Canada West, Matthew Pearse.
Callum Weir shared the clean sheet at the other end for Victoria with two saves of his own.
The Vikes outshot UNBC 5-0 in the opening half and Pierce was put to the test early.
His first highlight reel stop came in the 28th minute off a point-blank look from Javier Sagaste that Pierce managed to deflect above him off the bar.
Two minutes later the crossbar came in handy again when Yassin Gultouni redirected a pass from Harry Ritter West clean off the bar above Pierce.
The rebound bounced back to Ritter West in the penalty area, but Pierce read the play perfectly and dove to his right to make the save.
The third-biggest save of the night from Pierce came in the 65th minute when third-year forward Evan Larson moved behind the UNBC defense and raced in all alone.
Larson placed a good shot that was aimed for the low left corner of the goal, but Pierce kicked out his right leg and got his toe on the shot, deflecting it out of harms way.
With each stop from Pierce, the crowd at Masich Place grew louder and louder. More than 450 fans made plenty of positive noise every time Pierce touched the ball in the second half. With time winding down and the Vikes threatening, defender Pipeijn van der Ende came up with a vital block to keep the game scoreless.
After the game, Pierce was quick to praise the backline efforts from the likes of van der Ende, Koss Nystedt, Hagon Kim and Luke Graham in particular.
When the final whistle sounded, the home crowd roared with appreciation for Pierce and his teammates who were able to congratulate one another on a well-earned point.
The applause grew louder when Logan Pierce was announced as the Mr. Mike’s Player of the Game for his efforts.
