Simon Fraser rally to topple Mariners in Family Day clash in Burnaby

It was a Family Day to remember for Simon Fraser University fans as the Clan scored four unanswered goals in the final 40 minutes to defeat the visiting Vancouver Island University Mariners by a 4-1 score on Monday afternoon at the Bill Copeland Sports Centre.

VIU celebrated an early lead after forward Joshua Cook scored his sixth goal of the season just 1:26 into the first period. SFU had 14 shots in the frame but couldn’t solve VIU goaltender Brett Clark through the first 20 minutes of the game.

Although the home team heavily outshot VIU in the first period, SFU head coach Mark Coletta thought his team could have had a better opening frame: "I thought we were a little bit sluggish to start, it being a 4:00 PM game on a Monday. But once we got rolling, our team-speed was definitely evident and the forecheck was good, we broke through after some good goaltending by VIU."

Clan forward Ryker Moreau scored his second goal of the season just 3:40 into the middle frame to knot the game 1-1 and  SFU was firing on all cylinders outshooting VIU a combined 30-10 after two periods of play.

Third year forward Jaret Babych got things going for SFU in the final period. Brendan Lamont set-up Babych for his 10th goal of the season and approximately 5 minutes later, Lamont set-up defenceman Braxton Bilous with his 4th goal on the year. Rookie forward Eric Callegari found the empty net with just 5 seconds remaining in the third period to seal the win for SFU.

Simon Fraser outshot the visiting Mariners 49 to 20 but coach Coletta suggests that those statistics might be deceiving.

"I can’t say that all those shots were quality but at the end of the day, when you get enough on net you’re going to break through and that’s just perseverance by our forward group to make sure we’re getting traffic and pucks to the net."

Both SFU and VIU went scoreless on the man advantage Monday afternoon, VIU 0/4 and SFU 0/1. Clan netminder Lyndon Stanwood stopped 19 of 20 shots to help lead his team to victory.

SFU is back on the ice Friday when the Selkirk Saints visit the Bill Copeland Sports Centre. Puck drop is at 7:00 PM.