BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — St. Francis College Brooklyn’s Nikita Prokhin (Jr., Mississauga, Ontario, Canada) won two sprints to help Canada overcome the Republic of Korea/South Korea, 9-4, and advance to a Ninth Place game meeting with the United States of America on Tuesday, August 29 at the 2017 Summer Universiade in Taipei City, Chinese Taipei (Taiwan).
Following a scoreless first quarter, Canada grabbed the lead with a 2-0 scoring advantage in the second quarter. The margin expanded to 3-0 prior to retracting to 3-2 in the third quarter before the Canadians reeled off four goals in the final five minutes of the frame to possess a 7-2 margin entering the fourth quarter. South Korea was unable to overcome Canada’s third quarter outburst as the teams traded pairs of markers down the stretch for the 9-4 final score.
The Canadians now stand at 3-3 at the tournament after previously losing to defending champion Hungary (17-3 L, August 18), downing the Republic of 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. Canada then topped South Africa, 7-6, for a second time on Friday, August 25, to set-up the showdown versus South Korea for a berth in the Ninth Place game.
Overall, Prokhin now has a goal, an assist and a steal in six 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, a goal facing Great Britain and a sprint victory in Canada’s second meeting with South Africa.
