A strong third period put them close, but the Simon Fraser University men’s hockey team fell short in a 5-3 setback to the Eastern Washington University Eagles in the SFU 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 club opened the regular season two weeks ago with a 5-4 victory 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 head coach Mark Coletta. “We addressed it all week [. . .] and we didn’t do a good job of it.”
After the two teams traded powerplay markers in the first period, the Eagles surged ahead with a three-goal second, giving SFU a hill to climb.
Eastern Washington took the lead seven minutes into the middle frame, followed quickly 18 seconds later by what looked like the equalizer – but the SFU goal was waved off due after the referee ruled the puck had been kicked into the net.
The Eagles instead upped its lead with a powerplay tally, then add a pair of goals off the stick of defending BCIHL scoring leader Beau Walker, one a shorthanded effort.
Scoring for SFU were Tyler Basham, with a pair, and Brandon Tidy, off an assist from Robson Cramer.
Netminder Jordan Liem started the game 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 winning ways next weekend.
With the loss, SFU is now 1-1-0, and looks to get above .500 next Saturday when they return home to face the University of Victoria. SFU students get in free with student ID. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.
