SFU is moving on to the BCIHL championship
By Andrew Jow
The Simon Fraser University Clan men’s hockey team took on the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack in a best-of-three game se- ries to open the playoffs over the weekend of March 9. With a trip to a sixth straight championship se- ries on the line, SFU was every bit the dominant team in both games.
Friday’s game took place at SFU’s home rink, Bill Copeland Arena. The Clan burst out of the gates, and it was soon clear that TRU would have a tough time containing their speed. The fast pace earned TRU two hooking penalties early on, but SFU couldn’t capitalize.
But they did open the scoring. A coast-to-coast rush by Christopher Hoe allowed the Clan to set up for an easy tap-in for Ben Van Lare. A minute later, Colton Graf sprung Brenden Silvester on a breakaway thanks to a fantastic stretch pass. Silvester rifled it top shelf on TRU goaltender Shane Mainprize.
The two first period goals ex- emplified SFU’s dominance in the neutral zone, as they easily flew across the ice. TRU was unable to enter SFU’s zone without dumping it in and struggling to recover the puck.
The theme of neutral zone control continued in the second period, as SFU’s Jesse Mysiorek and Van Lare both scored five minutes apart after two more stretch passes from SFU’s own end into the offensive zone.
TRU’s Duncan Schultz got one back in the second, but his effort came too late. SFU added two more in the third to seal the easy
6–1 victory.
The series’s setting shifted to Kamloops for the second game in consecutive nights. Not wanting to give TRU any breathing room, SFU took the early advantage one minute in.
Thanks to yet another stretch pass, this time from Van Lare, Hoe walked in all alone and made no mistake, sliding the puck past Mainprize. The top line of Hoe, Van Lare and Jono Ceci were the best line all weekend, constantly put- ting pressure on TRU’s defense and getting plenty of scoring chances.
Brenden Silvester added an- other goal on the power play; per- fect puck movement gave him a wide-open cage to slide the puck into. To finish off a perfect open- ing frame, Bruin Macdonald rushed the puck end-to-end and found the loose puck in the slot, backhanding it home. Macdon- ald’s goal gave the visitors a 3–0 advantage heading into the sec- ond period.
The last time the Clan visited Kamloops, TRU came back from being down 3–0 to eventually force a shootout. SFU were not going to let this happen again, as Mysi- orek and Ceci scored off of two TRU turnovers early in the second frame. The WolfPack were having trouble clearing their own zone and could hardly muster any of- fense, making SFU’s goaltender Evan Kurylo’s night a relatively easy one.
TRU added two goals in the third, but by then it was too late. SFU walked away from Kamloops with a 5-2 victory and a spot in the Championship series next weekend.
With Selkirk College sweeping the University of Victoria in their se- ries, the BCIHL will feature the top two teams from the regular season. SFU’s work will be cut out for them, as they have yet to beat the team from Fair Banks, BC this year.
If they play like they did against TRU, the Burnaby squad should be able to end the year on a high note.
