Photo Credit: Garrett James
Freshman Daniell Lange made the most of his opportunity on the first line. When Scott Patterson left the game with an injury, Lange received the call up. He scored twice in a span of just over two minutes.
“We needed somebody with some goal scoring ability to get out there,” said head coach Mark Coletta, who gave credit to assistant coach Tom Spencer for the decision. “You always play a hunch as a coach.
“We’re trying to fit him into spots that he’s going to be successful, so wherever he’s playing, he’s always playing with a skilled guy, we know what his attributes are, we know his nice hands, and his ability to score goals, so we’ve got to feed off of that and make sure we’re putting him in positions to succeed.”
While SFU won 5-1 at home Saturday night against the Selkirk College Saints, and only two goals were needed in the end for the win, Lange’s two with 17:36 and 15:15 left in the game — the third and fourth goals of the night — turned the tide, and took anyway any likelihood that Selkirk could come back.
Lange, who scored 30 goals with the Kindersley Klippers last season, was quick to give all the credit to his new linemates — Adam Callegari and Brendan Lamont, who finished with two assists each.
“They just see me in the middle of the ice and they pass it over to me and I shot it and it went in,” said Lange, who now has five goals in his rookie campaign. “The coach has been focusing on telling me to shoot the puck and I’ve been doing that.”
Lange’s two goals helped the team recover after an emotion-filled second period that saw SFU take 52 penalty minutes and surrender a goal to the Saints.
“We just kept our eye on the objective of the game, and the coach just said, ‘just don’t worry about it, just play your game,’ and that’s what we did, and that helped us win the game,” said Lange.
SFU came out to an early 2-0 lead to start the game. Tyler Basham scored the Teddy Bear and Underwear Toss goal — his second in two games — just past the halfway point in the first period on a power play, ending Callegari’s two year streak. Sam Chatterley scored his first BCIHL goal just 1:20 later, with helpers from Spencer Unger and Mak Barden.
Mathew Berry-Lamontagna closed out the scoring with a bomb from the point to put the Clan up 5-1 with 12:27 left in the game. Jayden Piattelli (two), Jaret Babych, and Graham Smerek also picked up assists.
While the scoresheet notes a four goal game, goaltender Lyndon Stanwood worked hard to keep Selkirk at one goal, making 34 saves on 35 shots (.974 SV%). With this game in tow, Stanwood now has a .945 SV% and a 1.50 GAA, good for third in the league, and is only behind goaltenders who have played less than four games.
Selkirk out shot SFU 35-32. In the end, 120 penalty minutes were doled out to both teams. Goaltender Jordan Liem, who backed up Stanwood, received a game misconduct at the end of regulation, and will not be eligible to play Friday.
With the victory SFU currently sits in first place with an 8-2-1 record and 17 points, one point ahead of both Selkirk College and Trinity Western (though Selkirk has played one more game than SFU and Trinity Western).
SFU closes out 2016 with back-to-back games against the University of Victoria Friday and Saturday at the home. SFU is 2-0-1 against the Vikes, and won their lone home against the Vancouver Island-based team.
“Our focus is on team speed and taking away time and space, [being] aggressive on the forecheck. If our guys are moving their feet, we’re hard to beat,” said Coletta. “This was an emotional game, it’s going to take six days now to get back at it, but we’ve got to keep that intensity for the week, and go out on the semester on a high note.”
Puck drop is at 7 pm for both games at the Bill Copeland Sports Centre. It’s two for one night — buy tickets for Friday’s game and receive free admission Saturday, if you bring your ticket stub. 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 FASTHockey.
Three Stars:
1st Star: SFU #91 Daniell Lange (2G, 0A)
2nd Star: SFU #1 Lyndon Stanwood (34 Saves, .975 SV%)
3rd Star: SFU #19 Tyler Basham (1G, 0A, TBTG)
AROUND THE BCIHL: No other games were played Saturday night… Thursday night, Trinity Western beat Eastern Washington at home. Florian Neidermaier scored twice and Silas Matthys made 25 saves for the shutout… Friday, Selkirk College defeated the host Trinity Western, which snapped a three game winning streak by the Spartans… Friday, Eastern Washington appeared to headed towards their first win of the season when they were up 3-1 in the first period. However, eight goals by the Vikes in the second frame led to the Eagles’ 12th loss on the season, a 10-5 defeat.
