SFU tops Fraser Valley for first-place strangehold

On a night where there were no shortage of power plays, Simon Fraser winger John Bressette clinched two points for the home team with a late short-handed marker.

With blueliner Iain Stewart serving a roughing minor, Bressette caught up to an outlet pass from Craig Munro and deked UFV netminder Josh Pastoor to break a 1-1 deadlock. SFU's Jason Pagliaro and Fraser Valley's Kyle Krunick traded late goals to conclude a 3-2 Simon Fraser win.

Andrew Graham had opened the scoring for SFU with a slap-shot from the point on a second period power play, but Krunick responded soon after with his first of the night for the Cascades. Both teams spent large chunks of the game with the man-advantage, but neither could take control. SFU finished 2-for-10 on the power play while Fraser Valley scored once on 10 opportunities.

With the win, Simon Fraser takes a four-point lead in the BCIHL standings with seven games remaining for both teams. The Cascades will now need SFU to falter during a five-game stretch in which they face Selkirk College and Trinity Western if they're to have any chance of capturing top spot in the league's regular season standings.

Both teams return to the ice on Saturday night; Simon Fraser for the first of two games versus Selkirk in Castlegar while Fraser Valley visits TWU.