Dal drops two more on the weekend
Dalhousie’s losing streak has become a full-blown nightmare.
It’s so long, in fact, that Dal forward Benjamin Breault could not recall how many losses his Tigers have racked up after adding another to the streak Nov. 18 with a 4 – 2 home defeat to Acadia. It was the Tigers’ ninth consecutive loss.
“It’s never fun to lose, and I think we’re at,” said Breault, pausing, “actually I’ve lost track, that’s how bad it’s become.”
Regardless of how long their losing skid is, the Tigers are undoubtedly disappointed with a season that has strayed far from what they envisioned at the start of the campaign.
After losing to Acadia, the Tigers travelled to Antigonish the next night and fell again, dropping a 5 – 3 result to St. FX. That setback extends Dal’s futility streak to 10 games.
Dal’s record after the weekend is a league worst 2-11-0. Acadia is third place with a 8-3-1 standing and St. FX is sixth with 4-6-2. Dal’s only victories came in October against seventh place St. Thomas.
It hasn’t been the season so far that Shea Kewin anticipated. He had a goal against Acadia.
“We had really big expectations for ourselves so there was frustration at the beginning of the season because we didn’t start the way we wanted to,” said Kewin. “We know we have to be better. We know that close is not good enough in this league, and we’re not expecting that, but that’s the way it’s gone this past month.”
This is Dal’s longest losing streak since 2008-09 when the Tigers ended the campaign on a 13-game losing skid. Their record that season was 4-24-0.
In front of a vocal crowd last Friday for Residence Student Night, Kewin scored just 2:07 into the frame to erupt the partisan crowd and give Dal a one-goal lead.
The Tigers’ edge would not last as the Axemen followed with two quick goals of their own in the next five minutes to turn the advantage to the other side.
Dal’s best period was the second. Jordan Villeneuve-Gagne evened the match when he roofed the puck over a frozen Evan Mosher 20 seconds into the period to tie it at two. The Tigers kept pressing afterwards, but despite their 10 shots on net and four power plays, Dal did not net another goal.
“We didn’t score on the power play,” said Breault. “That definitely killed us because that normally gives you a goal or two a game.”
Acadia’s Andrew Clark and Christopher Owens scored midway through the third period to end the scoring. Their markers gave the Axemen a 4 – 2 victory.
It is Acadia’s fourth triumph in a row after a three-game losing stint. Clark pointed to hard work as to why his team’s fortunes have been changing for the better.
“We just had a little slump there, but we decided to work hard and everybody seems to be coming together a lot better right now. It’s still early, but we’ve got good chemistry right now.”
In last Saturday’s match, Dal lost their 3 – 1 edge early in the second period, surrendering four unanswered goals to lose their 10th in a row. X-Men Jason Bast had three of those four tallies.
The Tigers have also struggled with injuries this season. No. 1 goalie Bobby Nadeau and backup Wendell Vye are among the top players sidelined, propelling rookie Philip Wright from understudy to go-to guy. He has lost three games as starter.
Breault said he is not one to make excuses for his team’s performance, expressing instead that it’s time to start winning.
“It’s a short season, only 28 games, so do the math there,” he said. “We are aware [of the streak]. It’s in our mind. We just want to win the next one.”
In their last game before the holiday break, Dal welcomes Saint Mary’s to Memorial Arena Nov. 25 at 7 p.m.
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