After being mathematically eliminated from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) playoff race last week, this game was about one thing: the seniors. Mikaela Guerreiro, Kaely Biring, and Priya Sandhu — the three seniors on the team — were all honoured on Thursday night’s game as they took on Saint Martin’s University in the last home game of the season. To top it all off, they all contributed to the 8–0 victory.
Guerreiro started the evening off as well as could be imagined, scoring her first goal of the season within the first minute off of an assist by Katelyn Erhardsen. A few minutes later, SFU won themselves a penalty as Allyson Dickson was fouled within the penalty area.
As a goalkeeper, saying Sandhu has had a limited amount of scoring chances in her SFU career would be an understatement. In her last home game ever, and with the game not meaning anything in terms of playoff chances, coach Annie Hamel elected to give her the opportunity of her career. Sandhu did not fail to capitalize, scoring her first goal of the season (and her career) five-and-a-half minutes into the last home game she would ever play for the Clan.
Late into the second half, and with a scoreline of 7–0, Biring — a defender — capped off the night for the seniors in style, assisting on Jenna lee-Baxter’s goal to get on the scoresheet.
The night could not have gone better for the seniors, as Biring’s defending and Sandhu’s goalkeeping (five saves in the match) also contributed to a clean sheet for the Clan.
Also of note was the continued strong play of Emma Pringle. With goals in the 30th and 62nd minute, Pringle is now the leading scorer in the GNAC with 14 goals in 13 games. Western Washington’s Gabriela Pelogi also has 14 goals, but is ranked behind Pringle due to her having played in 15 matches this season.
The Clan is now 5–6–0 in conference play this season, with a 7–8–0 record overall. They have officially claimed the fifth seed in the conference, missing out on the playoffs by one spot due to a tremendously strong top four this season. To represent this, if you were to combine the points of the teams ranked 6–8 in the conference, they would still not be enough to add up to Northwest Nazarene’s (the fourth place team) 21 points.
SFU will travel to Western Oregon for their last game of the season on Saturday, October 28. Western Oregon sits at second last in the GNAC with a 1–8–2 record. You can catch the stream on SFU Athletics. Kickoff is at 1 p.m.
