VICTORIA, BC — In a dominant first period, the SFU Men’s Hockey Team scored two goals in the first and outshot the University of Victoria Vikes 14-4. However, goaltender Lyndon Stanwood had to be in fine form to carry SFU to a 3-1 lead, as UVic outshot SFU 28-18 in the second two frames.

“We played exceptional in the first period,” said head coach Mark Coletta. “But tonight we just let it slip away in the second, got a little loosey-goosey.”

Stanwood’s 31 saves (.969 SV%) was his best performance of the season.

“He played tremendous, he made some big saves down the stretch,” said Coletta. “Our defensive zone was a little bit careless, not taking initiative in front of our own net to take bodies and to take sticks, so he came up big and he made the big saves.”

Daniell Lange opened the scoring against former LA Kings prospect Alec Dillon just under two minutes in with a shot from the slot to pot his fourth of the year. Ian Mackey and Jayden Piattelli were credited with assists on the play.

Jaret Babych scored the second of the night and the eventual gamewinner with about five minutes left in the period.

UVic turned up the heat in the second period, but only found the back of the net once.

With 1:14 left in the game, Spencer Unger scored the insurance goal — an empty netter — assisted by Brandon Tidy and Tyler Basham.

With the win, SFU pulls ahead of the three teams below them in the standings, with a 4-2 record, ahead of the teams behind them by at least four points and with as many or less games played. SFU is only two points behind Trinity Western in second, and have two less games played.

SFU returns to action tonight, making the short drive to Nanaimo to take on the Vancouver Island University Mariners for the first time in program history. The Mariners are looking to break a three-game losing streak.

“We’ve got to be a little more aggressive in our d-zone,” explained Coletta. “We haven’t played [VIU] yet, but we’ve watched some video, and they seem to be a pretty good team all-around as a first year team, so we can’t take them for granted and we’re going to have to play tough.”

Puck drop is at 8 pm. It will be streamed live on HockeyTV. Follow @SFUHockey on Twitter for live updates.

Three Stars:
1st Star: SFU #1 Lyndon Stanwood (31 Saves, .969 SV%)
2nd Star: SFU #24 Jaret Babych (1G, 0A, GWG)
3rd Star: UVic #30 Alec Dillon (30 Saves, .936 SV%)

AROUND THE BCIHL: Despite being outshot 31-26, Selkirk College continued its nine game winning streak to open the season by beating Trinity Western 5-2 at home. Brandon Sookro put up a monstrous four point night (one goal, three assists) to lead Selkirk to victory. Goaltender Patrick Zubick turned away 29 of 31 shots (.935%).