BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — St. Francis College Brooklyn’s Nikita Prokhin (Jr., Mississauga, Ontario, Canada) won a sprint in 30:13 of playing time as Canada clipped the Republic of South Africa, 7-6, to clinch a Top 12 finish at the 2017 Summer Universiade in Taipei City, Chinese Taipei (Taiwan).
The victory advances Canada into a Ninth/12th Place game at Noon local time on Sunday, August 27, against the Republic of South Korea.
Canada never trailed against South Africa as the squad jumped out to leads of 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 in the first quarter. Following an equalizer by South Africa with 6:56 remaining in the second quarter to pull even at three-all, Canada pushed the margin to a pair for the first time at 5-3 with 4:40 until halftime.
South Africa chipped its deficit down to one at 5-4 prior to the break, but a strike by Canada with 2:16 to go in the third quarter returned the spread to two at 6-4.
The margin swayed from one to two goals and back again in the fourth quarter as South Africa was able to pull within 6-5 and 7-6 prior to the final horn.
The Canadians now stand at 2-3 at the tournament after previously losing to defending champion Hungary (17-3 L, August 18), downing South Africa (8-4 W, August 20) and taking a 28-2 setback against Serbia (Monday, August 21) to complete Pool C action. Following the conclusion of Pool C competition, the United Kingdom/Great Britain nipped Canada, 7-6, to prevent Prokhin and his countrymen from earning a Top Eight finish in the 16-team field.
Overall, Prokhin now has a goal, an assist and a steal in five games as he notched an assist versus Hungary, a steal against South Africa in their first meeting, no statistics of note in the Serbia game and a goal facing Great Britain.
