Clan men’s hockey team loses to first-place Selkirk in a shootout
On Saturday evening, the first-placed Selkirk College made the trip to Bill Copeland Arena to face off against second-place Simon Fraser University. With only two games left before the playoffs, the Clan looked to turn their fortunes around and make a statement against the best team in the BCIHL.
The shorthanded Clan got a big boost with the return of the team’s leading scorer Ben Van Lare, as well as key defensemen Taylor Swaffield and Bruin Mcdonald.
Despite being the top two scoring teams in the league, goals were surprisingly hard to come by through the first two periods. Goaltenders Stephen Wolf for Selkrik and Graham Gordon for SFU were solid, but neither team had any spectacular scoring chances.
SFU had its opportunities to take the lead on the power play throughout the two periods, but were unable to capitalize.
The Clan set up with four forwards and one defenseman, with the defenseman taking a high position in the middle of the blue line, and the forwards rotating down low, from the top of the circle to below the goal line.
The lack of net presence hurt the Clan power play, as they went 0–5 in the contest, making the special team 0 for 11 in the past two games.
Selkirk’s Justin Sotkowy broke the deadlock 14 minutes into the third off a lucky bounce. Sotkowy’s point shot hit SFU defenseman Mike Ball’s stick and ricocheted into the top corner. After the goal, the back and forth game continued.
Both teams continued to skate up and down the ice, trading rushes as well as scoring chances. SFU relied too much on their speed, as they constantly skated the puck out wide and settled for low percentage shots.
As it turned out, SFU’s tying goal was a result of a good forecheck by Tony Oak, who rustled the puck out of the corner and found Trevor Milner in the slot who slid it passed Selkirk’s Wolf.
With 11 seconds to go, controversy arose when the Clan’s Joey Pavone thought he muscled the puck home, but referee Duncan Brow disagreed. The result was both teams entering overtime tied 1–1.
The extra frame solved nothing, as Gordon was stout in net, turning away Selkirk’s Connor McLaughlin in close twice for the best chance of overtime. For the third consecutive week, the Clan had to go to a shootout to end the stalemate.
Selkirk’s good fortunes carried over into the skills contest because Thomas Hardy’s winner barely squeaked through Gordon’s five-hole. Selkirk walked away from Bill Copeland with the 2–1 victory and a sweep of the season series.
For the third straight game, SFU lost a tough one. With the playoffs fast approaching, this is the worst possible time to be in a slump. But with one more game remaining, SFU has an opportunity to turn this skid around and gain momentum for a long playoff run.
