By: Michael Lenko, Peak Associate
On their first of two Vancouver Island road trips this season, SFU Hockey came away with a win over the University of Victoria (UVIC) Vikes and a loss against the Vancouver Island University (VIU) Mariners. By taking just two of four points from the road trip, the Clan remained in a tie with the Vikes for fourth place in the British Columbia Intercollegiate Hockey League (BCIHL) standings — albeit, with three games in hand.
In the first game of the trip, the Clan made the trek to Victoria to square off against the Vikes at the Ian Stewart Sports Complex. The first period had an even pace of play, with both teams taking a ton of shots. The Vikes scored the only goal of the period on a late powerplay, as a Keenan Eddy shot eluded the Clan’s starting goaltender Andrew Henderson.
Early in the second period, the Clan responded with a powerplay goal from Jake Keremidschieff. It was his second goal of the season, assisted by Ty Westgard and Eric Callegari. The Clan continued to hold the pace of play throughout the period and outshot the Vikes 18–11. Both goalies were impressive in the period, and in the game in general, and kept the score 1–1 heading into the third.
In the third period, the pace of play evened out again with both teams pushing for the two points. Just 20 seconds into the period, the Clan took the lead on a Ty Westgard goal. However, the Vikes promptly responded, as Otis Goldman evened the game for the home team with just under five minutes left. The Clan finally took the lead for good, with Kyle Bergh scoring the eventual game winning goal, putting the Clan up by one with just under two minutes left in the game. While the Vikes poured on the pressure in the final moments of the game, a turnover led to Mac Colasimone scoring on the empty net to clinch the victory.
The game was a much closer affair than the 3–0 win the Clan was able to secure in the first matchup between the two teams this season, as the Clan only held a narrow 42–39 shot margin this time around.
In the second game of the weekend, the Clan squared off against the VIU Mariners at the Nanaimo Ice Centre. The Clan came out to a slow start, with the Mariners outshooting them 16–6 in the opening frame. This dominance eventually paid off for the Mariners, as Garret Murray opened with the only goal of the period.
The second period saw the Clan regroup and provide a much more competitive effort than their lacklustre first period. Eric Callegari tied the game up on on a five-on-three powerplay early in the frame. However, the Mariners reclaimed the lead soon after on Murray’s second goal of the night. The Clan once again leveled the score, this time on Mac Colasimone’s second goal of the weekend. The Mariners restored their one goal lead for a third time, this time on an Alex Hanson powerplay marker late in the period.
The wheels fell off for the Clan in the third as they were looking to tie the game for a third time. A temporary lapse in team structure midway through the period resulted in two quick Mariners goals, which put the game out of reach for the Clan. Gavin Rauser and Ronnie Wilkie scored just over a minute apart, effectively sealing the win for the Mariners.
VIU ended up outshooting the Clan 45–28, which was one of the most lopsided shot margins against the Clan this season. While the second result of the weekend is definitely a disappointment for the Clan, there were a few positives to be taken from the weekend. Andrew Henderson was strong in net for the Clan on the weekend, stopping 77 of 84 shots as he made both starts on the trip. He now sits in second place in both save percentage and goals against average in the league. Another positive was fourth year forward Mac Colasimone continuing his torrid scoring pace. Colasimone now has a total of 11 points on the season through just seven games.
After the road trip, the Clan can now look forward to a three game home stand in which they will host the same two teams they just visited. After hosting the Vikes, the Clan will welcome the Mariners to the Bill Copeland Sports Centre for back-to-back games on November 22 and 23.
