Photo credit Josh Shaefer

SASKATOON (CIS) – The 2013 CIS men’s hockey championship got off to a surprising start on Thursday afternoon as the sixth-ranked Waterloo Warriors used a pair of power play goals to shock the No. 1 Alberta Golden Bears 2-1 in the tournament opener, at the Credit Union Centre.

University Cup website: www.universitycup.ca

With the win, the Warriors (1-0) take the early lead in pool A and get to rest until Saturday at 1:30 p.m. Saskatchewan Time (live on Sportsnet), when they’ll face No. 4 Saint Mary’s in their second and last duel of the preliminary round.

Alberta (0-1) takes on Saint Mary’s Friday at 1 p.m.

After weathering an early 34-second five-on-three surge from the Golden Bears, the Warriors opened the scoring at 14:09 of the first period.

Alberta defenceman Jesse Craige clipped a rival up high off a faceoff resulting in a double minor. Waterloo forward Colin Behenna emerged from a battle behind the Alberta net and sent a centering pass to Justin Larson, the CIS scoring champion from Buckhorn, Ont., who one-timed the puck through the legs of CIS goaltender of the year Kurtis Mucha.

The Warriors survived a middle stanza in which they were outshot 22-4 and doubled their lead 7:56 into the third, shortly after Alberta’s Johnny Lazo was sent to the box for a check to the head.

Waterloo kept the puck in on the side boards before working it down below the goal line. Behenna, a freshman from Waterloo Ont., stepped out from the corner and slid a cross-crease pass for Winnipeg native Blake Chartier, who tapped the puck into the open net.

The Bears, who came in as Canada West champions, outshot the OUA finalists 43-13 but couldn’t solve goaltender Keaton Hartigan until there was three minutes and 30 seconds left in the contest.

Craige fired a shot that was blocked by a defenceman but Torrie Dyck of Hudson Bay, Sask., banged in the rebound from just outside Hartigan’s crease.

Alberta hit the post four times during the contest, including twice in a span of 15 seconds midway through the final frame.

“Keaton has been the heart and soul of our team during our playoff run and he’s one of the main reasons we’re here,” said Waterloo head coach Brian Bourque, whose troops settled for sixth place in the OUA East in the regular season with a sub-par 12-11-5 record but went on to upset the top three seeds in the division in the playoffs to earn a berth in the University Cup tournament.

“I just felt comfortable out there,” said Hartigan, a fifth-year senior from Kitchener, Ont., who was logically named player of the game for the winners. “We allowed a lot of shots but I got a good look at most of them, and the guys did a great job at clearing rebounds.”

Alberta head coach Ian Herbers said his team was uncharacteristic in the loss.

“We just have to put this game behind us and give ourselves a chance to win [Saturday], that is all we can do,” said the first-year bench boss.

The PotashCorp University Cup, presented by Co-op, resumes Thursday at 7:20 p.m. local time with the pool B opener between the AUS champion and No. 2-ranked UNB Varsity Reds and the host Saskatchewan Huskies, live on www.CIS-SIC.tv.

SCORING SUMMARY

Waterloo 2, Alberta 1

FIRST PERIOD
1. WAT Justin Larson (1) (Colin Behenna, Kain Allicock), PP

PENALTIES:
Blake Chartier (WAT) cross checking, 4:01;
Jarred Parent (WAT) high sticking, 5:27;
Jesse Craige (ALB) high sticking, double minor, 13:32.

SECOND PERIOD
(no scoring)

PENALTIES:
Brett Ferguson (ALB) slashing, 9:33;
Jarred Parent (WAT) roughing, 11:48;
Ian Barteaux (ALB) interference, 14:12;
Brett Mackie (WAT) hooking, 18:07;
Brett ferguson (ALB) slashing, 20:00.

THIRD PERIOD
2. WAT Blake Chartier (1) (Colin Behenna, Kirt Hill), 7:56 PP
3. ALB Torrie Dyck (1) (Jesse Craige), 16:30 PP

PENALTIES:
Johnny Lazo (ALB) checking to the head, 10-minute misconduct, 6:14;
Ryan Molle (WAT) high sticking, 15:31;
Travis Toomey (ALB) high sticking, 17:49;
Kirt Hill (WAT) holding stick, 19:56.

GOALS (by period)
WAT: 1-0-1: 2
ALB: 0-0-1: 1

SHOTS ON GOAL (by period)
WAT: 5-4-4: 13
ALB: 8-22-13: 43

POWER PLAY:
WAT: 2-7
ALB: 1-6

GOALTENDERS
WAT – Keaton Hartigan (W, 1-0, 43 shots, 22 saves, 1 GA, 60:00)
ALB – Kurtis Mucha (L, 0-1, 13 shots, 11 saves, 2 GA, 59:41)
ALB – Empty net (0 GA, 0:19)

PLAYERS OF THE GAME:
WAT: Keaton Hartigan
ALB: Torrie Dyck

REFEREES: Mario Maillet, Pierre Lambert
LINESMEN: Kyle Paulsen, Darrell Surminski
ATTENDANCE: 6732
START: 1:08
END: 3:30
LENGTH: 2:22

POOL STANDINGS & RESULTS (SASKATCHEWAN TIME)

Pool A standings (after 1 of 3 games)

GP W L GF GA PTS
1. Waterloo 1 1 0 2 1 2
2. SMU 0 0 0 0 0 0
3. Alberta 1 0 1 1 2 0

Pool B standings

1. UNB 0 0 0 0 0 0
1. UQTR 0 0 0 0 0 0
1. Sask 0 0 0 0 0 0

Thursday, March 14
1:00 pm Pool A #1: Waterloo 2, Alberta 1
7:20 pm Pool B #1: UNB vs. Saskatchewan (www.CIS-SIC.tv)

Friday, March 15
1:00 pm Pool A #2: Alberta vs. Saint Mary’s (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
7:00 pm Pool B #2: Loser Pool B #1 vs. UQTR (www.CIS-SIC.tv)

Saturday, March 16
1:30 pm Pool A #3: Waterloo vs. Saint Mary’s (Sportsnet & www.CIS-SIC.tv) *
8:00 pm Pool B #3: Winner Pool B #1 vs. UQTR (Sportsnet & www.CIS-SIC.tv)

Sunday, March 17
5:30 pm University Cup Final (Sportsnet ONE & www.CIS-SIC.tv)

* Except Sportsnet East

-CIS-