SAHA wins 4-1 Saturday, advances to second straight Circle K Classic finals
By James Tubb on December 31, 2022.
The South Alberta Hockey Academy have put themselves in a position to defend their 2022 Mac’s Championship at the 2023 Circle K Classic. SAHA beat the Burlington Eagles 4-1 Saturday afternoon in semifinals action to punch their ticket into the A division finals. The local hockey academy opened the scoring late in the first period when Josiah Jackson scored with 1:40 left in the first frame. Noah Dziver had the assist on Jackson’s goal. SAHA carried the offence into the second period as they capitalized on a power play 2:14 into the frame. Gavin McKenna fired home a puck for the eventual game winner and the 2-0 lead. Kade Duell and Kadon McCann notched the helpers. The Eagles made it interesting 43 seconds into the third period with a goal from Jack McAra but SAHA put the game out of reach later in the frame. Sammy Hynes took a pass from Dziver 13:03 later and scored to give SAHA a 3-1 lead, Nate Corbet had the second assist. Less than a minute later McKenna scored his second of the game for their final lead of 4-1. Duell and Matthew Paranych had the assists on McKenna’s marker. Between the pipes for SAHA Zach Zahara made 18 saves and across the ice from him, Karsen Chartier turned aside 31 shots for the Ontario team. SAHA will look to become the first repeat champions at the 32-team Invitational tournament since Shattuck-Saint Mary’s won the 1999, 2000 and 2001 tournaments. They will face the Calgary Buffaloes in the finals, who were the 2019 champions. 8-7
