Marc Rancourt edged closer to historic territory while helping the Saint Mary’s Huskies earn a first-round bye.
The fourth-year forward piled up two goals and an assist in a 6-3 victory over the Acadia Axemen in Atlantic University Sport men’s hockey action last night at the Forum.
Rancourt, who leads the country in scoring, now has 57 points in 27 games and needs just two points to record the highest single-season AUS point total since 1998-99.
“Ranny is the catalyst of our team,” said Huskies forward Cody Thornton, who had a goal and two assists himself.
“Everything really goes through him, on the ice or in the dressing room. He makes the game easier for everyone.”
The Huskies captain scored one of his goals on a rebound on the power play and his other on a perfectly-placed slap shot off a rush. He beat three men down low on his assist, making a beautiful spin-o-rama to put it on the tape of Scott Brophy.
“Our power play’s clicking and we have some pretty good shooters out there,” Rancourt said, deflecting praise. “It’s pretty easy to give them the puck and let them do the work.”
The second-place Huskies, 19-7-1, have one game remaining against the Dalhousie Tigers, and can still finish first overall. Then they go straight to the best-of-five semifinals.
“On paper we’re a pretty skilled team, but it’s a matter of working hard to get things to go our way,” Rancourt said.
“Our coaches have gotten us all on the same page and everybody’s buying in. We’re a tough team to play against.”
In other action last night, Dalhousie lost its 12th straight game, 6-4 to the host St. Francis Xavier X-Men.
