The Simon Fraser University men’s hockey team opened their 2013-2014 BCIHL season on Saturday, Oct. 12 against the Thompson Rivers University Wolf Pack. Coming into the game with four straight preseason losses, the Clan, playing on home ice at the Bill Copeland Sports Centre, looked nothing like the losers of four straight.
The home team got off to a slow start, however, as the Wolf Pack controlled much of the first period. SFU’s defense was having trouble making the first pass out of their defensive zone, turning the puck over to TRU, which resulted in the away team hitting three posts.
Without an effective breakout, the Clan were unable to mount much offense until they caught a break — a TRU defenseman made a bad pinch giving Nick Sandor and Trevor Milner a two on one as the period was winding down. Sandor, SFU’s player of the month for September, kept the puck himself and fired a laser into the short side top corner. SFU was fortunate to be up 1-0 after one.
The second frame featured the turning point of the game. A miraculous save from SFU keeper Graham Gordon while lying on his back helped his team kill off a five-on-three powerplay. SFU was then given a five-minute power play after a cross-checking infraction from the Wolfpacks’ Daniel Higgs.
On the ensuing man advantage, SFU’s Jesse Mysiorek was left all alone in front of the net and made no mistake.
Mysiorek’s tally came 3:06 into the five minute major, so SFU was still had two minutes of powerplay time. Clan defensemen Jared Eng capitalized on the opportunity, as his floater of a shot from the point found the mesh, rippling behind TRU goalie Mark Menicucci. SFU’s special teams were winning the game for the home side after 40 minutes.
With a 3-0 lead heading into the third, the Clan were looking to close out the game with strong defense and goaltending. Quite the opposite happened as both teams exploded for a total of eight goals over a ten-minute stretch; four goals for each side The prettiest goal of the bunch came courtesy of SFU’s Jono Ceci, as his one timer from Aaron Enns went bar down and landed right in the back of the TRU net. The wild third period ended with SFU walking away with a 7-4 opening night victory.
SFU may not have finished the game the way they would have liked to, but they finished with a win nonetheless. The Clan did what good teams do: they capitalized on the opportunities they were given — in this case scoring four powerplay goals over the course of the game — to leave victorious.
The SFU hockey team now will hop on a ferry and head over to Vancouver Island to play the University of Victoria Vikes for a weekend of back-to-back games. SFU will look to keep the offensive momentum going to hopefully open the season with three
straight victories.
