It may have been a new year, but SFU hockey was determined to make it more of the same as in 2016. The Clan played a doubleheader against the Selkirk College Saints, defeating them 5–3 on Friday, but falling 4–2 on Saturday.
In the team’s first competitive game since December 3, the Clan relied on Scott Patterson. The Division I transfer finished the game with two goals and an assist — he now has 23 points in just 13 games played. He scored the first goal in the contest before the teams exchanged goals to end it 3–2 for SFU at the end of one. Darnel St. Pierre scored the eventual game winner in the second period before Patterson added an empty netter to seal the deal.
Special teams were a big component of the game — SFU was able to score three goals on 16 (yes, that is correct) power plays, while holding Selkirk to no goals on seven attempts with the man advantage. Lyndon Stanwood got the start, making 25 saves on 28 shots.
Unfortunately in the second game, the Clan couldn’t come up with a similar result, losing 4–2. Selkirk scored the first goal at the 8:48 mark of the first period and never really looked back — they led for the rest of the game. Patterson scored for the second straight game, and Jesse Mysiorek scored in the third to make it close.
Once again both teams had plenty of opportunities up a man, as each team had eight power plays. Selkirk scored twice with the man advantage; SFU only once. As well, a number of injuries on the blue line forced some players to play defence, as forwards Mike Sandor and Sam Chatterley played on the back end.
Jordan Liem got the start in the last game, making 25 saves on 29 shots. Going forward, it will be interesting to see which goalie is leaned upon more once the games start getting more important. Both goalies have played fantastic this year, and whichever goalie the team decides to go with the rest of the season, they’ll be in good hands.
This Week: SFU takes on Trinity Western in a home and home series. The first is at the Langley Events Centre in a rare Thursday night contest, while the next game is at Bill Copeland on Saturday. Last year SFU went 5–2 against the Spartans, and both of those losses came late in the season.
The Clan have only played the Spartans once this season, and it was not a good result — a 3–1 loss that saw Spartans’ goalkeeper Silas Matthys stand on his head and make 34 saves. Trinity this season have two of the top five scorers in Evan Last and Jarrett Fontaine, both rookies. With Trinity just two points behind first place Simon Fraser, winning both games would give the Clan a huge advantage heading into the stretch run of the season.
