Rauser, Witala combine to lead Mariners past Clan and sweep weekend series

A goal from second year sniper Brett Witala early in the second proved the difference on Saturday as Vancouver Island University beat Simon Fraser by a 2-1 score to sweep their two-game weekend series at the Bill Copeland Sports Centre in Burnaby.

All three goals that were scored in the game took place in a span of less than five minutes of clock time, with Gavin Rauser opening things up with 54 seconds remaining in the first period off a set-up from Garrett Dunlop and Ronnie Wilkie.

The Clan struck back less than two minutes into the second as Eric Callegari scored on an SFU power-play, but Witala netted the game winner with 16:02 left on the clock and neither team hit the back of the net over the final 36 minutes of regulation.

Jeremy Balyk picked up his second win in less than 24 hours, turning aside 35 shots to improve his record to 6-3-0 while claiming first star honours. Michael Lenko was unlucky to lose the game in goal for the Clan despite a 31-save performance of his own.

With the win, VIU improves to 6-4-0-2 on the season and puts five points between themselves, SFU and Selkirk College for sole possession of second place in the league standings. The Clan drop to 4-5-0-1 and are tied with the Saints for third, though Selkirk has played just eight games to SFU's 10.

Simon Fraser will look to bounce back from a winless weekend on Thursday when they visit Trinity Western University and try to put an end to the Spartans' eight-game winning streak to open the season. VIU returns home to face Selkirk College on Saturday.