VANCOUVER, BC – SFU pushed early, but couldn’t match the speed and physicality of the UBC Thunderbirds for the full 60.

SFU’s first round-robin matchup against UBC did not go as hoped as the team fell 8-2.

It was a tough start, with goaltender Michael Lenko being knocked into his net within the first 30 seconds of the game, leaving rookie Cale Dolan to fill the crease. Dolan faced a myriad of shots, and finished with 21 saves.

The two goals came from Lacasse, who broke away in the first to put the team up 1-0, and Coltellaro, putting the puck in the back of the net on the powerplay in the third.

UBC came with the firepower, however, tying the game only seconds after SFU started the scoring, and put up 4 more in the second period.

Despite this, the team didn’t seem shaken by the loss.

“We need to build off of our positives,” says forward Garrett Hilton, who’s entering his second year in the BCIHL after spending his first year with the Selkirk Saints in 2019/20. “We’ll take a look at the film, see what went wrong, and adjust.”

“We were holding on to the puck a little too much at some points,” says forward Cam Chin, “if we fix those things, we’ll be good going forward.”

USports teams historically have had the edge in the Captains Cup, with UBC taking home the hardware three times. Regardless of the league and the talent pools, the only thing that matters is the 60 minutes on the ice.

“We can’t be intimidated by where they play,” says Hilton.

“They’re one team, and we’re one team; we have to go out there, compete, and win every battle.”

SFU returns to play next Saturday in Merritt against the Okanagan Lakers before returning to Burnaby the following weekend for more Captains Cup action against UVic and VIU.

The next planned matchup against UBC isn’t until January 7th, 2022 at Bill Copeland Sports Centre.