Simon Fraser University defeated the University of Florida in Division I field lacrosse.
Playing their second game in as many days, SFU fended off any signs of fatigue, leading for most of the contest before pouring it on in the fourth quarter to claim a 15-9 victory.
Junior Colton Dow led the Clan with a season-high six points on five goals and one assist, while fellow attackman Calvin Craig chipped in with three goals and two assists to extend his team-leading point total to 29 on the season. Seven different players recorded multi-point efforts for SFU, including freshman midfielder Sam Clare, who continued his strong play with two goals and one assist.
Sophomore goaltender Darren Zwack also had an outstanding game making 21 saves and posting a 0.700 save percentage for the win. The out-of-conference match-up was played neutral site at University of Washington.
Clare opened the scoring early in the first quarter to put SFU up 1-0 before Florida midfielder Justin Lucas scored consecutively to give the Gators their only lead of the contest at 2-1. Craig scored his first of the game short-handed to tie the game at 2-2 before Dow found his scoring touch on a pass from midfielder Eric Ransom to give the Clan a one-goal lead after 15 minutes.
Heading into the second quarter, Craig and Dow connected to put Fraser ahead 4-2.
But Florida kept it close, knotting the score 5-5 at the break, despite a goal from SFU midfielder Frank Davalos.
Following the intermission, the Clan retook the lead with Ransom reclaiming the Clan lead. The two teams then traded goals until Dow on the man-up and an even strength tally by freshman attack Iain Vickars put SFU out in front for good.
The fourth quarter would be all SFU, as the Clan took their largest lead of the day at 10-7 on goals from Craig and Dow. SFU defender Mitch Frank also scored a shorthanded goal - his first point of his collegiate career - that kickstarted a five-goal SFU run to extend the Clan lead and reset the score to 15-8. Florida would score once more before time expired.
"We continued to fight through some consistency issues over stretches of today's game but finally got our intensity and execution to where it needs to be down the stretch," said SFU head coach Brent Hoskins.
The victory marks SFU's first out-of-conference win of the season after previously dropping games to current No. 1 Colorado State (11-4) and No. 3 Brigham Young (14-10) to open the season. The Clan will now have a bye week before facing their fourth out-of-conference and fifth ranked opponent of the season when they square off versus No. 17 Illinois in another neutral site contest to be played at Salem Academy in Salem, Oregon on March 17.
