Lacrosse season is upon us again. The Clan squad opened their season on Sunday, February 8 against cross-border opponents, the Western Washington (WWU) Vikings.
The Clan enter the season ranked 12th in the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA) Division I after reclaiming the Pacific Northwest Collegiate Lacrosse League (PCNLL) title in 2014, while WWU starts off at 11th in Div. II — a tier under SFU — after claiming the Div. II conference title in 2014.
The Clan wasted no time getting things moving. Senior midfielder and three-time MCLA All-American Sam Clare, who finished last season with a college-career high 44 goals, picked the ball off the face-off and sniped it home with his off-hand nine seconds into the game for his first of three.
After this, however, SFU struggled. The team was unable to find the back of the net until midway through the second quarter, which started a five-goal run to finish the half at 6–1.
The struggles continued in the second half for SFU, and the team gave up six goals while only putting up four. Luckily for the Clan, the first half lead insulated them for a 10-7 victory.
SFU were led by Clare and senior midfielder Casey Foster, both of whom had three goals to their name — though Clare had the edge with four points.
Midfielder Matthew Bailey, as well as attackers Lyndon Knutilla, Greg Lunde, and Iain Vickars, each had one tally each.
Sophmore goaltender and newly minted starter Jeremy Lashar played an amazing game, managing 16 saves on 23 shots for a .696 save percentage. Freshman Matt Sobey went .667 on the face-off dot, winning eight of 12 draws.
The Clan went on the road over reading break, taking on non-conference rivals Sonoma State and MCLA newcomer Dominican in California before returning home to take on PNCLL rival Boise State, Friday, February 20 at 7 p.m. on Terry Fox Field.
