A strong third period couldn’t bridge the gap for the Simon Fraser University Clan men’s hockey team, as it fell 5-3 to the Eastern Washington University Eagles in SFU’s home opener Saturday at the Bill Copeland Sports Centre.
The home opener attracted 1,473 fans and saw both teams combine for 66 penalty minutes, with SFU accounting for 38 of those minutes.
The Clan opened the season two weeks ago with a 5-4 win over Trinity Western University, which saw SFU tagged with 28 of the game’s 40 penalty minutes.
“After last week’s penalty barrage, the one thing we had to do was stay out of the box,” said coach Mark Coletta. “We addressed it all week [. . .] and we didn’t do a good job of it.”
Tied 1-1 after the first period, the Eagles surged ahead with a three-goal second.
Eastern Washington took the lead seven minutes into the middle frame, but the Clan appeared to tally the equalizer 18 seconds later – but the goal was waved off after the referee ruled the puck had been kicked into the net.
The Eagles got a pair of goals off the stick of defending BCIHL scoring leader Beau Walker.
Scoring for SFU were Tyler Basham, with a pair, and Brandon Tidy, off an assist from Robson Cramer.
New Westminster native Jordan Liem started the game in goal for SFU, kicking out 21 shots before being relieved by Lyndon Stanwood, who stopped all 12 shots he faced.
“The goaltending’s not an issue for us,” said Coletta, who was optimistic the team would return to its winning ways next weekend. “They’ll figure it out, they’re good core guys, I think we got good leadership in there.”
SFU hosts the University of Victoria Vikes at 7 p.m. on Saturday in Burnaby.
