CHENEY, WA — The SFU Men’s Hockey Team persevered with a shortened roster and to put up their first BCIHL victory Saturday in a 7-3 contest against the Eastern Washington Eagles.

“I thought we played a composed and very structured game,” said head coach Mark Coletta. “The boys played really well, we burnt both ends of the candle, so there’s some tired legs out there, but they played a full 60 minutes and stayed composed. We battled for each other.”

Missing seven players — Tim Chow, Jaret Babych, Cam Bertsch, Mac Colasimone, Spencer Unger, Zack Klebaum, and Dustin Cave — due to injury, SFU had to roll three lines and five defencemen.

The Clan took the first period by storm, putting up two goals and outshooting Eastern Washington 13-6.

Darnel St Pierre put up the first tally in the game 4:10 in. Putting up the first of two shorthanded goals, Brandon Tidy made it 2-0 when he powered through the Eastern Washington defence on a one-on-one opportunity, having previously forced a turnover.

“He played really well, I mean we’re asking him to do a lot,” said Coletta of Tidy. “Double shifting, sometimes going down to the fourth line to play centre, the penalty kills, the power play, you know, he’s a heart and soul kind of guy.”

Pavlo Zerebecky, who missed the 2016/17 season due to injury, put up two goals on the night. His first came 4:27 into the second period, on a shorthanded breakaway set up by Ryker Moreau with a stretch pass, to give SFU the 3-0 lead.

“He found himself in the right positions, pulled the trigger on one, then did a nice breakaway move on his other one, so he’s moving his feet,” said Coletta. “He’s competing for a job and he’s proving himself, so that’s a good thing.”

The two goals marked Zerebecky’s first multi-goal game of his career.

Mak Barden and Daniell Lange both added goals in the second period. Kyle Fuchas put up the Eagles’ lone goal of the frame. SFU went into the second intermission up 5-1.

Brett Mathews scored a power play marker for the Eagles to cut SFU’s lead down to three 1:28 into the final period. Zerebecky answered back with his second of the night to restore the four goal lead.

Beau Walker added one more for Eastern Washington, but Tidy’s goal on a shorthanded breakaway — nine seconds into the Eagles power play — with 5:45 left would close out the scoring.

Mathew Berry-Lamontagna, Jayden Piattelli, and Austin Adam also received assists on the night.

Goaltender Lyndon Stanwood rebounded from the previous night’s 6-3 loss with a 29 save (.906 SV%) performance. SFU outshot Eastern Washington 36-32.

“There was a lot of good performances. We’re happy with tonight’s performance, now we’ve got to build on that,” said Coletta after the game.

They will get a chance to do that this Saturday when SFU returns to the Bill Copeland Sports Centre against the BCIHL expansion team, the Vancouver Island University Mariners.

“We’re excited about the home opener,” said Coletta. “We’ll go hard this week, have a good Thanksgiving and get back to work Monday.”

SFU enters the home opener 1-1, having split the season opening road trip.

Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students and seniors, and free for children under 6 or for SFU students with valid ID. The game will also be streamed live on HockeyTV. Puck drop is at 7 pm.

Three Stars:
1st Star: SFU #53 Brandon Tidy (2G, 0A, 2 SHG)
2nd Star: SFU #12 Pavlo Zerebecky (2G, 0A, 1 SHG)
3rd Star: SFU #1 Lyndon Stanwood (29 Saves, .906 SV%)

AROUND THE BCIHL: Vancouver Island University lost their first ever BCIHL regular season game 5-1. Trinity Western continued a two-game winning streak on the road to take the win, a stretch where they’ve outscored opponents 11-4. Dirk de Waal put up two goals for the second night in a row.