Colorado Takes Advantage of Undisciplined Clan
from press release
BOULDER, Colo. - No. 3 Simon Fraser (1-2, 0-0 PNCLL) once
again struggled in transition and was unable to bounce back from a
slow start, losing 17-7 to No. 11 Colorado (1-1, 0-0 RMLC) on
Sunday, March 7. SFU’s second consecutive loss concluded a
disappointing 0-2 out-of-conference road trip for the Clan, moving
their 2010 regular season record to 1-2.
Attackmen Adam Foss (Cochrane, AB / Cochrane High School), Chris
Tessarolo (New Westminster, BC / New Westminster Secondary) and Ben
Towner (Port Coquitlam, BC / Terry Fox Secondary) each scored 2
goals to lead Fraser in the loss, while freshmen midfield Eric
Ransom (Sherwood Park, AB / Bev Facey High School) rounded out the
SFU scoring with 1 goal.
A lack of discipline would prove to be an early turning point, as
Colorado attack James Blackburn opened the scoring with a man-up
goal on a 1:00 minute non-releasable unsportsmanlike penalty by
SFU. CU freshman Doug Lilburne made the score 2-0 before Blackburn
scored his second of the game to give the Buffaloes an early three
goal lead.
With both teams coming off upset losses the game prior, the early
success on the scoreboard seemed to quickly reestablish CU’s
confidence under first-year Coach Pete Stevenson, while a fraught
combination of hesitant and forced play began to compound
difficulties for the Clan. SFU freshmen Eric Ransom scored with the
man advantage to ignite the Clan offense and put Fraser on the
board at a score of 3-1.
With SFU now working hard to gain momentum and turn the game in
their favor, Lilburne scored his second of the game to dampen the
Clan efforts and give the Buffaloes a 4-1 lead at the end of the
opening frame.
A CU flag to end the first quarter would see Simon Fraser start the
second period with possession on the man-up. Looking to cut the
Colorado lead to two, a Clan turnover would instead lead to an
unsettled offensive opportunity for the Buffaloes. With CU able to
clear the ball off of a SFU breakdown in transition, Blackburn
would again make Fraser pay for their mistakes, scoring on the
man-down to complete the early hat trick.
With the Colorado lead now at four, Buffalo midfield Ryan Haines
trickled a shot by Clan goaltender Dean Stewart (Duncan, BC /
Claremont Secondary) to make the score 6-1. Looking to stop the CU
assault, SFU replaced Stewart following Colorado’s sixth goal
with senior goaltender Mike Ripley (Saskatoon, SK / E.D. Feehan
High School).
It would not take the Buffaloes long to get back on the scoreboard,
as another lapse in the Fraser ride led to Blackburn’s fourth
of the game as the CU attackman broke the Clan’s defensive
coverage to receive a long clearing pass and blast a high shot past
Ripley to extend the Buffalo lead to six. Lilburne would continue
to add to the damage with his third goal of the game before Foss
was finally able to snap Colorado’s five-goal-run at a score
of 7-2. Blackburn would end the half with his fifth goal of the
game to cap off a dominating first half performance by the
Buffaloes and a halftime score of 9-2.
SFU entered the second half with optimism and were confident that a
return to their high powered offense could chip away at the
Colorado lead. Unfortunately for the Clan, CU quickly diminished
any chances of a comeback as a 7-2 third quarter made the score
16-4 and extended the Buffalo lead to twelve heading into the
fourth quarter.
With most of Colorado’s starters now out, SFU would out score
the Buffaloes 4-1 to start the fourth quarter before both teams
worked down their benches to run out the remaining minutes and land
at a final score of 17-7.
NOTES
- SFU continued to struggle offensively with only five
Clan players registering points: Foss 2g; Tessarolo 2g, Towner 2g;
Ransom 1g; Davalos 1a.
- Fraser rotated in all 3 goalies in the loss. In the order that
they appeared, junior Stewart played 22:00 minutes, making 2 saves
with 6 goals against; senior Ripley played 33:00 minutes, making 6
saves with 11 goals against; freshman Middleton played 5:00
minutes, making 1 save with no goals against.
- Clan freshmen Frank Davalos (Moose Jaw, SK / Albert E. Peacock
Collegiate) earned his first collegiate point with 1 assist.
- SFU registered 36 ground balls. Senior midfielder Kevin Riley
(Coquitlam, BC / Gleneagle Secondary) led the Clan with 6 ground
balls, while defenders Nathan Clare (Ladner, BC / Vancouver
College) and Dan Patterson (Erin, Ontario / Erin District High
School) each recorded 5.
QUOTES
SFU Co-Head
Coach Brent Hoskins
On Colorado: "I think that Colorado was vulnerable to start
the game but too many mistakes and a lack of discipline on our part
allowed them to capitalize early on and build some important
confidence. Even though this is Coach Stevenson’s first year
as a head coach in the MCLA, we have a lot of respect for his
ability and knew that he would have the Buffaloes playing tough if
we left the door open. We opened the door and to be honest CU
kicked it down. They are very talented at both attack and close
defense and we need to do a better of job of winning the battles in
between the restraining lines in order to be successful and fight
back from adversity.”
SFU Co-Head Coach Jeff
Cathrea
On Simon Fraser: "We have a talented group but once again
our execution needed to be better. As a team, we have the
experience to know what it takes to be successful against elite
teams. We have some work to do but are confident that a little
adversity will continue to make us stronger as we work through our
schedule.”
