An injured Clan lacrosse team executed a huge fourth quarter rally to top longtime conference rival University of Washington Huskies 13–8 on Terry Fox Field. The win brings the Clan to 4–0 in the conference and 6–4 on the season.
The team was missing attacker Lyndon Knuttila, who is tied for second on the team for goal scoring, as well as defencemen Alex Thomson, Cameron Chisholm, and FOS James Irwin. Attacker Tyler Kirkby, who led the entire Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association in goals last season with 65, and defenceman Michael Vandenbossche are also out for the season, having not played a single game.
Senior midfielder Sam Clare opened the game’s scoring in the first minute with a beautiful cut across the top and a hard outside shot to give the Clan the early lead — his first of two. The Clan finished the quarter up 3–1.
The team struggled for the next two quarters; they scored no goals in the second and were outscored 4–3 in the third. SFU headed into the final frame tied at six.
With one quarter left, a fire seemed to be lit somewhere in the tired Clan squad, going on a seven-goal tear while only giving up two to end the game with a final score of 13–8.
“After jumping out to an early lead, our effort stalled a bit in the second and third quarters, but we were able to get back on track and close out the game down the stretch,” said head coach Brent Hoskins. “This was an important win to lock up a playoff spot and prepare for another challenging stretch on the back half of our schedule.”
Leading the way for the Clan was freshman attacker Greg Lunde with three goals and two assists.
Sophomore Jeremy Lashar stood between the pipes for the full 60 minutes, stopping 12 of 20 shots for a save percentage of .600. Clare (26G, 10A) moves into the third spot in the conference and ninth in the league for scoring, and Lunde (19G, 16A) moves into the fourth spot in the conference and 11th in the country.
The Clan now enters the second half of their season, with a weekend off before traveling to Oregon to take on Caly Poly and conference archrival Oregon, then to Utah to take on Brigham Young University and the University of Utah. They finish off the season at home taking on conference favourite Oregon State and Montana before the Pacific Northwest Collegiate Lacrosse League playoffs at the beginning of May.
