SFU rockets past the WolfPack heading into the playoffs
By Andrew Jow
Photos by Vaikunthe Banerjee
Simon Fraser University and Thompson Rivers University are going to see a lot of each other over the coming week. The Clan’s regular season finale pitted them against the WolfPack on March 2 at Bill Copeland Arena. The two teams will also meet in the first round of the playoffs, so this game was key to gaining momen- tum heading into the postseason.
For the first time in a few weeks, Clan head coach Mark Coletta had a full compliment of players at his disposable.
The home team shot out of the gate, skating up and down the ice in continuous action for the first three-and-a-half minutes. The quick start resulted in a beautiful goal by Brenden Silvester as he corralled the loose puck off the side wall, skated into the slot and fired a Crosby-esque backhand over TRU goaltender Adrien Her- villard’s shoulder.
The Clan’s advantage in speed also led to their second goal when Ben Van Lare streaked down the left hand side and fed team MVP Christopher Hoe at the doorstep, and he made no mistake.
SFU’s feisty period carried over into the second. Joey Pavone brought SFU’s lead to three while on the penalty kill. The third-year center did all the work himself, stealing the puck in the TRU’s zone and driving hard to the net, even- tually tapping in his own rebound.
The three goal lead may have made SFU overconfident, be- cause TRU got their first of the night as they caught all five SFU players down low in the Wolf- Pack’s zone, resulting in a TRU two-on-zero where Alessio To- massetti finished off the tic-tac- toe passing play.
Thompson Rivers contin- ued their comeback late in the period, when Anthony Delong picked up a loose puck along the sidewall and rifled it past SFU netminder Evan Kurylo. SFU defenseman Mike Ball scored the biggest goal of the night 50 seconds later as his point shot found its way into the back of the net. Ball’s effort restored the two-goal lead and gave the home team the momentum heading into the third.
Although the momentum was on SFU’s side, Thompson Rivers got within one goal five minutes into the third. SFU got caught scrambling in their own zone and TRU defenseman Joshua Macdonald’s point shot was deflected in by Tomassetti. Nick Sandor responded by scor- ing SFU’s first power play goal in two games, a result of Mike Ball’s great end-to-end rush.
Coach Jim Camazzola could be heard yelling, “take the ice!” all night, and the defenseman heeded his message. The defense had been active all game, jump- ing in on offensive chances when able, causing mismatches in TRU’s defensive scheme. Silves- ter added his second of the night, sealing the Clan’s 6–4 victory.
Coming in with three straight losses and playing their first round playoff opponent, SFU needed to make a statement and they did just that. The Clan proved they were the bet- ter team, and the WolfPack will need to play three nearly perfect games to beat the Burnaby squad.
The first playoff round began Friday March 8 at Bill Copeland as Simon Fraser looked to finish off a strong season with a cham- pionship. The results will be in the next issue of The Peak.
