In a tight game compared to their last contest, SFU was able to grind out a 4–2 result against the University of Victoria Vikes. The Clan got four goals from four different players, a good sight considering the injuries up front to Adam Callegari, Tyler Basham, Mike Sandor, and Jesse Mysiorek.
“We just have good depth, and the boys are jumping into those opportunities,” said head coach Mark Coletta after the game. “Especially guys that don’t play that much. But I think we have a lot of goal scorers, first, second, third, fourth line — whatever you want to call them, one line more or less, I think they all play well.”
In the first period, SFU got up to a 2–0 lead. Spencer Unger and Mak Barden got the goals, and Lyndon Stanwood in his first start of the season only faced two shots.
However, that quickly changed. UVic roared out in the second period, peppering Stanwood with 15 shots, and adding another nine in the period. BC Intercollegiate Hockey League point leader Shawn Mueller got the goal, while Jaret Babych got one back for the Clan.
“It’s tough, especially if you haven’t played for four weeks in a row in a real game, to come back and you’ve only had two shots, and they weren’t really contested shots at all,” said Stanwood on the increased traffic in the latter two periods. “I was a little bit nervous at first, as you haven’t played in a while. Coming back and easing your way into it was great, I thank my team for that.”
The third period featured a barrage of power plays for UVic, but they weren’t able to truly take advantage. Mueller got his second of the game, but that was not enough as Mitch Crisanti scored an empty-netter to put the game away at 4–2.
One of the keys to the game was limiting the offensive production of Patrick Holland. The ex-NHLer was held to no points on the night.
“Our D did a great job, all six of them,” remarked Coletta on how they limited his chances. “[. . .] So we tried to isolate those things as best we can. [And also], our defence were up with the play. They were tight, [and] our gap starts when we break the puck out. I know you hear that a lot in the NHL level when they talk about gap. We try to bring that to a different level that as soon as we break the puck out we want our D to follow up, so that they’re already in position and that they’re not having to run up.”
“He’s a very good hockey player as you can see out there tonight,” said Stanwood. “But he’s playing in our league too. So we just take him as another player. You just want to do what you do against any other player, and that’s what we did tonight.”
SFU’s next home game won’t be until November 26, where they’ll play four-time defending champions Selkirk College. SFU is now two points off them in the standings, but have two games in hand.
