WolfPack into BCIHL Championship game for second straight year

For the second season in a row, Thompson Rivers University has earned a direct path to the BCIHL championship final.

Another three-goal victory over Simon Fraser University has the sophomore WolfPack a game away from winning the league title.

Anthony Manfredi made 35 saves to shut out Simon Fraser University 3-0 on Friday night, leading the WolfPack into the big game.

"I've been talking about the character of the players all season. It's just been a progression of one challenge after another. Clearly that was the biggest game of the year for us," says TRU head coach Lorne Cumming.

"We dropped two games to these guys at the end of the year as a wounded, beat-up line-up. Our guys were hungry to win this game. They had a plan and were determined out there."

Last spring, TRU defeated the Clan by three goals, 10-7, to advance to the final. On Friday night, the No. 1 team shut down an offensively-talent SFU squad and blanked the hosts.

Zac Rasmussen pumped in three points, including the first goal 1:06 into the game and eventual winner.

The game's second star then set up another early-period goal, feeding third-star Jassi Sangha 52 seconds into the third to give TRU a 2-0 lead.

Rasmussen solidified the WolfPack's spot in the final with an empty-netter.

For the second-ranked Clan, they threw everything they had at TRU, outshooting the top-ranked team 35-19 at Bill Copeland Sports Centre.

But Manfredi shut it down and ensured nothing would get past him all night.

"I thought we outplayed them, we outshot them, out-chanced them," says SFU head coach Mark Coletta. "They got a really weak goal early in the game and then a soft one for the 2-0 goal. But overall, we didn't capitalize on our chances and they played a good game."

SFU now has to play in the second semi-final against the University of Victoria on Saturday night.

The Vikes pulled out a 3-2 overtime victory over Trinity Western on Friday, as Adam Courtnall scored the OT winner to save the day for UVic.

The tournament is playing out almost identically to last season. The Spartans pulled off another playoff upset -- this year against Okanagan College -- and TRU defeated the Clan in the first semi-final, forcing SFU to play again Saturday.

The Clan hope the trend continues and they get back to the championship game against the WolfPack.