Photo Credit: Garrett James

CASTLEGAR, BC — After missing the final two games of the 2016 calendar year with injury, Scott Patterson looked refreshed in the first game of 2017. He led the SFU Men’s Hockey Team to a 5-3 victory over Selkirk College Friday night with two goals and an assist.

“His speed is ridiculous,” said head coach Mark Coletta. “His two goals were unstoppable in my opinion.”

Patterson opened the scoring on the power play just over three minutes in, with a helper from Mathew Berry-Lamontagna.

About a minute later, however, Selkirk struck back with Matt Martin scoring a tying goal.

The two teams would trade goals once more, with Jesse Mysiorek putting the Clan up 2-1, followed by an answer from Selkirk’s Alex Milligan. SFU would have the last laugh in the first period, as Graham Smerek posted a power play goal with only 14 seconds left, assisted by Patterson.

Jaret Babych provided SFU’s fourth goal and eventual game winner.

SFU would not again surrender the lead, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying from the Saints. Midway through the second, Wade Johnson put the Saints within one. In the third period, Daniell Lange went to the box for a four minute penalty, but SFU was able to kill the penalty and keep the one goal lead.

Patterson would score once more on the power play to seal the deal with 5:08 left.

Goaltender Lyndon Stanwood made 25 saves on 28 shots (.892 SV%). SFU were outshot 28-23.

“It wasn’t the prettiest game to watch, but our guys battled hard and we adjusted to the style of play right away,” said Coletta. “Our transition game got better as the game went on, and that’s going to be a key tomorrow, and then our d-zone can’t be as sloppy as we were, we gave them some goals because we were bringing the puck back into our zone instead of moving it north.”

The two teams will rematch tonight at the Castlegar Recreation Centre. Goaltender Jordan Liem will get the start in net. The game will be streamed live on HockeyTV. Puck drop is at 7 pm.

Three Stars:
1st Star: SFU #81 Scott Patterson (2G, 1A)
2nd Star: SEL # 71 Wade Johnson (1G, 1A)
3rd Star: SFU #24 Jaret Babych (1G, 0A)