Through the weekend of October 3, the SFU men’s hockey team went on the road to play against two well-established NCAA Division I hockey programs from Providence College and Northeastern University. While the score lines were not flattering, the team gained valuable experience against some tough competition.

“It’s competitive and fast,” head coach Mark Coletta told The Peak. “Going up against six or seven drafted [NHL] players is a lot different than what we’re used to, so it was an experience.”

Their first game was against the Providence College Friars, the defending NCAA national champions. Despite being the underdogs in the playoff, the Friars ended up winning it all, eliminating eventual second overall pick Jack Eichel in the process. They also featured a number of players drafted by NHL teams, including Mark Jankowski, who selected in the first round by the Calgary Flames in 2012.

SFU got off to a great start when forward Mak Barden scored an early powerplay goal to put the team up 1–0. However, Jankowski scored to tie it all up,w and the Friars didn’t look back from there. They scored eight straight more to take the game to 9–1. Despite the score, Jordan Liem had a fantastic game, making a number of great saves against a talented opposition.

The next day the team played the Northeastern University Huskies. While not the reigning champs, the team featured six NHL draftees, including Adam Gaudette, a fifth round draft choice of the Canucks. Unfortunately SFU couldn’t get the opening goal in this game, as Anaheim Ducks prospect Kevin Roy scored to make it 1–0. Northeastern ended up scoring five straight, only to be interrupted by Mak Barden to make it 5–1. Forward Stephen Ryan made it 8–2 late in the game, but the Huskies added two quick ones to make the final score 10–2.

While the score lines were not flattering, coach Mark Coletta was looking at the process more than the end result.

“[I looked] at mostly our compete level,” said Coletta. “We’re at a different level than these NCAA division I programs, and they play a different style. They play a more in-your-face, pressing system with a lot of quick transition, especially between the defence and the forwards. So hopefully we can take some of these things and use them this upcoming season.

“It’s a great experience,” added Coletta, discussing the trip as a whole. “The facilities and prestige of the programs are something else. It’s all first class — it’s like a mini NHL.”

It’s a sunny Saturday afternoon, not a chance of rain. A great day to watch some football — some Canadian football, I should note. What a great day, sitting in the sun, in one of the few summer-ish days left. Maybe pop open a cold bottle of Coke or knock back some overpriced domestic beer. What a day.

But wait, I’m watching the BC Lions at BC Place. Despite boasting on its website that BC Place has “a spectacular, one-of-a-kind retractable roof — the largest in the world,” on this bright, sunny Saturday the roof was, for some reason, closed.

The other things were still there — a cold pop, a pretty decent game of football — but one of the very reasons I looked forward to the game was for seeing it in the sun. Instead I sat inside for three hours on one of the last days of semi-summer.

It ain’t the first time I had to watch a game indoors at BC Place for no real reason. Back in the day, when the Heritage Classic came to town — a supposedly outdoor game — despite great weather outside, the roof was closed.

What’s the point of having “a spectacular, one-of-a-kind retractable roof” if you’re never going to retract it?

Down in Seattle, at Safeco Field, home of the Mariners, they’ve got an awesome system for baseball games, where if it starts to rain, their retractable roof can quickly cover the stadium. Why can’t BC Place do that? I don’t know if Safeco is “one of a kind” like BC Place, but that certainly is “spectacular.”

Apparently, the decision to close the roof comes 90 minutes before the game, so I guess it means it has little or nothing to do with the weather. But why close it? Part of the fun of any sporting event — aside from hockey — is to take in the fresh air.

Now, apparently the Lions want it closed for the competitive advantage, I suppose to keep the amplified noise trapped in. I’m not going to be delusional and say that the Lions can get anywhere near the atmosphere of the Seahawks, but come on, Centurylink Field can manage just fine without a closed roof. The Lions have also had trouble drawing fans in all year, so I’m not sure how much of a competitive advantage there could be with a very meagre crowd there making little noise.

Oh well. I suppose it’s just another reason I’d rather watch the Seahawks.

On Sunday October 4, a great fall day, the SFU softball team played host to the UBC softball team. It was a great chance to see the team in action before their GNAC season starts next February. The final score was 6–4 for the Thunderbirds, thanks in part to a great fifth inning.

“Well, it’s fall for us, and for us these are scrimmages,” said SFU head coach Mike Renney. “So we play open substitutions and stuff like that. So it’s a chance for us to get our freshman in the games. Our freshman kind of got their feet wet, and it’s good chance to play some ball in great fall weather.”

UBC got off to a quick 1–0 lead in the first, after the SFU shortstop committed an error. SFU was able to get back into a 2–1 lead in the bottom of the first, tying it with a sacrifåice fly ball and taking the lead off an error from the second basemen.

The game was looking good for SFU until the fifth inning. UBC exploded for four runs, with the rally starting off with a successful bunt. In the sixth, UBC was able to add one more run after a double sent the runner from third home.

In the bottom of the seventh, SFU made things interesting. They were able to get runners on the corners with no outs, and the runner from third was able to slide home after a single. SFU added another run, but it was too little left too late.

The game was just a scrimmage, but these games are used to determine what needs to be improved for the upcoming season. “If anything, we look for things to identify that we have to invest in in the offseason,” said Renney after the game. “For us, we’re not looking to see what we did right, we’re looking to see what we aren’t doing right. We then build upon those things, make our list, and tackle them when we head indoors.”

Renney elaborated on what the team needed to improve on heading into the season. “We’re pretty much where we expected to be this time of year. One of the things we need to get more of is experience for our freshman. So they got that today, and we continue to invest with them.

“We got a solid defensive lineup, some good pitching depth and certainly some offensive potential but they all have to be clicking on all cylinders. If we can get B+ and A games from each of those categories, we’ll be fine.”

The SFU Women’s Volleyball team extended their winning streak to two games Thursday night, and put themselves over .500 with a win against the ninth-placed Western Oregon Wolves in their first game home after a four-game road trip.

“We did a good job of weathering the ups and downs,” said head coach Gina Schmidt. “Western Oregon made us earn all of our points.”

Clan setter Danielle Curtis opened the game’s scoring, giving SFU the head start. For much of the first set, SFU had the momentum on their side, with a six point lead at various occasions and one four point streak, before closing the set 25–20.

However, the second set was a much closer affair. For the first time in the game, the Wolves took the lead, and though the Clan at various points built up a sizable lead, the Wolves just kept coming back.

“I thought we could have cleaned up a few things offensively, there was a couple of times they strung a few points in our rotation, where we gave up some easy points on unforced errors,” explained Schmidt.

For a moment, the Wolves looked ready to take the second set, leading the Clan 23–20 and only two points away from splitting the series. A series of bad serves and errors in their own end, including surrendering the final point on an unforced error, gave the Clan the second set at a score of 26–24 — a commanding two-set lead.

The third set was the first in which SFU surrendered the first point. Unfortunately for the Wolves, and fortunately for the 105 Clan fans in attendance, they were plagued by the same problems — namely, a tendency to over-serve the ball and inaccuraty in their attack attempts.

The Clan then promptly took advantage to sweep the Wolves, claiming the final set with a score of 25–17.

It was a game where it seemed SFU might very well lose control, but every time the Wolves started gaining ground, the Clan were able to answer right back.

“We focus on one play at a time, the next pass, the next set, so I think that’s where you can’t get ahead of yourself,” said Schmidt.

Redshirt sophomore middle blocker Madison Power led the team in kills with 14, while the defensive effort was split amongst the team with libero Alison McKay, Jessica Young, and Curtis combining for a total of 48 digs.