The Clan lacrosse team continued its dominance of the Pacific Northwest Collegiate Lacrosse League with a one-sided, 14–2 thrashing of the University of Idaho Vandals. The Clan improved their record to 4–0 in their division and 5–1 on the season.
From the first whistle, the Vandals were overpowered. The Clan opened up the scoring with two goals from Ward Spencer and a goal each from Casey Foster, Andrew Branting, and Clan leading scorer Tyler Kirkby, making it 5–0 at the end of the first frame.
Idaho goaltender Craig Patrick kept the Clan at bay in the second quarter, holding the Clan to two goals, one from Sam Clare and Foster’s second of the night, making it 7–0 at the half.
The Clan found their groove again in the third, going on a four-goal run off of goals from Jordan Stroup, his first of the year, and three more from Kirkby to make it 11–0 after three.
The Vandals finally got on the score sheet in the fourth, after being held scoreless for over three quarters, with a goal from their leading scorer Patrick Tunison.
However, Brendan Ferrell notched a beautiful goal minutes later to extend the Clan’s lead to 12–1. SFU netted two more off shots from Clare, his second, and Kirkby, who potted his fifth of the day, to round out the Clan scoring.
Vandals attackman Derrick Wilson snuck one past Clan goaltender Jeremy Lasher on a powerplay late to make the final score 14-2.
Both Clan goaltenders logged minutes, with senior Darren Zwack stopping all six shots in 35:54 minutes, and improving his save percentage to .720 on the season.
Freshmen Jeremy Lasher took over between the pipes for the remaining 24:06, stopping five of seven shots for a save percentage of .714. His save percentage improves to .611 on the season.
The Clan scooped an impressive 44 loose balls, with defenceman Alex Thomspon grabbing five and defenceman Mark Hilker and Long Stick Midfielder Riley Wanzer grabbing four each to lead the way.
After the win, the Clan broke into the top-10 of the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA) rankings at #10. They have a tough five day road trip ahead of them, playing games against #1 Arizona State, #20 Arizona, and unranked Illinois before returning back to Burnaby Mountain to take on divisional opponents Washington State on March 29 and Portland State on April 5.
With wins this weekend the Clan will continue to move towards that #1 position and securing a spot in the MCLA tournament.
