EDMONTON - As it was the previous night, the Canada West newbie MacEwan Griffins showed some bite against the Golden Bears for the first 25+ minutes. 

However, the depth of the Golden Bears was too much for the Griffins to handle on Saturday night, with Alberta earning a 6-0 home win at Clare Drake Arena.

Rookie Bear Tyler  Preziuso recorded his first career hat-trick, scoring once in the third, and both insurance markers in the third period. Fellow Alberta rookie Nick Schneider made 19 saves for his first Canada West shutout. 

Eric Florchuk, Ryan Hughes, and Jared  Freadrich also scored for Alberta, who finished the first semester with a 9-2-1 record, and the No. 2 seed in Canada West. 

After the weekend sweep, MacEwan concludes their first half with a 3-9-0 record, and the eighth spot in CW.

MacEwan was an equal partner in the first 20, despite allowing a goal just 3:59 into the game. Florchuk potted his 3rd of the season off a rebound kicked out by James Porter. 

Schneider was forced to make seven stops in the first, with the Griffins holding their share of offensive zone time. 

Alberta came out firing in the second, scoring three to all but seal their Saturday night win. Preziuso scored his first just over five minutes in, ripping a shot over Porter from the slot. Hughes added to the lead less than two minutes, later, capitalizing off a feed from Nolan Volcan, who undressed his defender at the Griffin blue-line. 

Freadrich solidified the lead with his third goal of the weekend a little over two minutes later, beating Porter over the shoulder.

Preziuso potted a pair in the third to record the hat-trick, finishing the first half with four goals and seven points in 12 games. 

MacEwan will return to CW action on January 14th, with the Bears getting back to conference play on January 22nd.