Photo Credit: Damon James

CASTLEGAR, BC — The SFU Men’s Hockey Team battled through injuries and put in a hard effort in a 4-2 loss to Selkirk College Saturday night.

“It’s tough anytime you lose,” said head coach Mark Coletta. “But I thought we played really well for the amount of injuries we had, and guys playing defence that are usually forwards, guys moving up the lineup, playing big minutes.

“It’s just one of those games.”

The game the night before, a 5-3 victory, saw forward Tyler Basham and defencemen Brandon Tidy and Dustin Cave go down with injury. Forwards Sam Chatterley and Mike Sandor took up the responsibility of playing on the blue line.

SFU ran into penalty trouble early on, taking a series of roughing penalties, which led to surrendering the first goal just after the halfway mark of the first period while on the penalty kill. While SFU were perfect on the penalty kill the night before, Selkirk scored two power play goals on eight attempts.

“We were undisciplined in the first period, I think our guys let the emotions get the better of them,” said Coletta. “We’ve really got to do a better job of keeping our emotions in check, and that’s something we’re going to have to address, not only as a coaching staff, but the captains and the leadership group are going to have address that going down the stretch.”

Selkirk’s Wade Johnson added to the lead 5:39 into the second period, but Scott Patterson, on a goal assisted by Mathew Berry-Lamontagna and Graham Smerek, cut the lead to 2-1 just 2:07 later.

Selkirk added a late power play goal to take a two-goal lead going into the intermission.

Jesse Mysiorek, scoring his second goal in two games, put the Clan within one with a power play goal 7:03 into the third. Adam Callegari and Daniell Lange were credited with helpers.

SFU dominated much of the pace of play in the third period, outshooting Selkirk 10-6 in the frame.

However, Selkirk added some insurance with a goal that came with 4:50 left to put them up 4-2.

Despite getting some power play opportunities, including a 6-on-3 opportunity — a pulled goalie plus a 5-on-3 — SFU were unable to solve Selkirk’s Brett Huber.

Goaltender Jordan Liem made 25 saves on 29 shots (.862 SV%). Selkirk outshot SFU 29-26. The timetables for return for Basham, Tidy, and Cave are unknown, and they will be evaluated when the team returns home. With his goal tonight, Patterson moves into third place in the BCIHL scoring race with seven goals and 22 points.

SFU sits in first place in the BCIHL with an 11-3-1 record, two points ahead of Trinity Western.

The Clan will take on Trinity Western next in a home and home Thursday and Saturday. First, SFU will travel to the Langley Events Centre to take on the Spartans. The Saturday home game at the Bill Copeland Centre will be the first since December 3.

All home games cost $10 for adults, $5 for students and seniors, and are 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 for both games.

Three Stars:
1st Star: SEL #9 Ryan Edwards (2G, 0A)
2nd Star: SEL #31 Brett Huber (24 Saves, .923 SV%)
3rd Star: SEL #16 Alex Milligan (1G, 1A)

AROUND THE BCIHL: It was a three point game as Trinity Western fell 2-1 in a shootout against the University of Victoria. UVic’s Patrick Holland struck first on the power play in the first period, but the Spartans’ Dirk de Waal tied it up in the second period. Only one shooter made it to the back of the net for either team, and that was Holland on UVic’s third attempt.