It was another terrific weekend for the SFU men’s hockey team. After sweeping the road games against Eastern Washington the previous weekend, the Clan were back home at Bill Copeland for another set of back-to-back games. The team was able to defeat Eastern Washington and fellow contenders Selkirk College, extending their winning streak to six games.
The first game was the type of high-scoring, offensive game you’d expect to see in the 1980s. Both teams combined for a total of 81 shots, and 11 goals were scored between the two teams. Jesse Collins of EWU scored two goals in the first, and the always
Beau Walker added another, with Jesse Mysiorek, Jesse Wil- liamson, and Michael Sandor scoring for SFU after two to make it 3–3.
In the third period, SFU looked like they were off to win another. Mysiorek and Sandor both added their second scores to make it 5–3 with just over 10 minutes to go in the third. How- ever, EWU scored two in quick succession to tie it up. That set the stage for Tyler Basham to score with just over one minute left to give SFU the win, result- ing in a third consecutive victory over the Eagles 6–5.
“It was just a two-on-one play,” explained Basham after- wards on his winning goal. “I had [Matt] Luongo driving to the net and he took the [defender] with him. I was able to beat the goalie low blocker [with a] quick shot, right against the post [. . .] it was kind of a dagger to the other team, those are the types of goals that just take a team out of the game.”
The game the next night was against defending champions Selkirk College. It was a pivotal match of first versus second. Since SFU was two points up on Selkirk, they had the chance to go four points clear with a win in regulation.
Jono Ceci scored SFU’s first two goals to give them a 2–0 lead early in the second, before Ryan Edwards and Jamie Vlanich scored twice to give Selkirk the lead, the second time in as many games SFU had blown the coveted two goal lead. But Tyler Basham saved the day once again for SFU, scoring with over eight minutes remaining to tie the game up at three. Matthew Berry-Lamontagna would score the only shootout goal for either side making the final score 4–3.
“[It was] a desperate Selkirk team against an SFU team that won five in a row,” said assistant coach Tom Spencer after the game. “We got outplayed for forty and found a way to win.”
The big story of the game, however, was the loss of Jesse Williamson. One half of the top defensive pairing for the Clan, Williamson took an awkward hit near the end of the second period to his head and did not return. He was taken to the hospital for precautionary reasons, according to Spencer.
The win in overtime, along with Selkirk’s win against UVic the next day, means SFU is only one point up on the champs. With the loss of Williamson, the Clan’s defence will have to step up to fill the void left by him down the stretch.
