After a snow-filled day on Friday, the Clan hosted their season opener against the Idaho Vandals on Saturday. SFU had a very strong game, leading for nearly the entirety of it and never letting the end result be in question. After starting the season in sunny California, the team did not let the snow deter them, in what was a very Canadian-esque environment.
Senior Greg Lunde built upon his strong beginning to the season with four straight goals in the first quarter. His fourth goal came after a strong penalty kill from the Clan in which goalkeeper Tej Grewal made a fantastic save, before the ball found its way to Lunde and into the back of the Idaho net.
The game would be relatively smooth sailing from there on out, with the Vandals cutting the lead to three in the second quarter, the only time of unrest for the Clan. Also notable from the second quarter was freshman Jordan Roberts getting his first goal of his collegiate career. The teams would go into the half with a score of 8–3.
SFU would keep this five-goal advantage going into the fourth, as both teams scored three goals in the third quarter. Notably, however, the Clan did give up three straight goals to the Vandals at the end of the third quarter.
Simon Fraser then went on to do what they had to in the fourth quarter, coming away with a comfortable 15–9 victory. The cherry on top of the sundae was placed by SFU’s Zach Gould, who scored a rocket with 19 seconds left in the game.
The No. 20 ranked Clan will get away from the snow next week as they head to California to face off against No. 19 ranked Concordia-Irvine and San Diego University on March 2 and 3, respectively. Concordia-Irvine are the reigning Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association Division II national champions.
