No. 7 Simon Fraser runs to 16-8 win over No. 5 Oregon
(8 votes, average: 4.75 out of 5)
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By William Howard, SFU Lacrosse Media Relations
Simon Fraser University Lacrosse
Event: Men’s Lacrosse
Site: Burnaby Lake Sports Complex West, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC
Score: No. 7 Simon Fraser 16, No. 5 University of Oregon 8
Record: SFU (9-1, 4-0 PNCLL), UO (10-2, 6-1 PNCLL)
Next SFU Game: Sunday, April 6, 2008, 12:00pm PST – vs. Oregon State University – at Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia (Burnaby Lake Sports Complex West)
BURNABY, BC (April 7, 2008) – There was noticeable electricity in the air Saturday afternoon as No. 7 Simon Fraser University hosted No. 5 University of Oregon in a rematch of last year’s PNCLL conference championship game. In front of approximately 200 fans, the Clan turned a 2-2 first quarter tie into a convincing 16-8 win over the 2007 national finalist Ducks. While the Clan were led in points by sophomore midfield Russel Thomas (Nanoose Bay, BC / Ballenas Secondary) with 6 points on 2 goals, 4 assists, the bulk of Simon Fraser’s scoring came from a couple of freshman. First year attack Chris Tessarolo (New Westminster, BC / New Westminster Secondary) paced the Clan with 5 goals, while freshman midfield Ben Davies (New Westminster, BC / New Westminster Secondary) added 4 points on 4 goals, 1 assist.
Davies opened the first quarter scoring to give the Clan a 1-0 lead before the Ducks responded with two goals of their own by sophomore attacks Justin Blackmore (Lake Oswego, OR / Lakeridge High School) and Chad Loescher (Salem, OR / Sprague High School). SFU’s Thomas recorded his first of four assists on the day when sophomore midfield Kevin Riley (Coquitlam, BC / Gleneagle Secondary) scored his third goal of the season to close the first quarter at a score of 2-2.
Special Teams would take the stage to open the second frame as Oregon was awarded a three minute illegal stick penalty on a disallowed goal. Simon Fraser would score twice on the ensuing man-up on goals by Tessarolo and Davies but would give up a short handed goal to the Ducks in between tallies to keep the score close at 4-3. The teams would trade goals to round out the half with the Clan outscoring Oregon 4-2 in the second quarter for a half-time lead of 6-4.
Oregon would open the second half scoring with Blackmore registering his second goal of the game on the man-advantage. Any hope of a Duck come-back would be short-lived as the Clan caught fire in the second half scoring four unanswered goals and taking a 10-5 lead into the fourth quarter.
Oregon would again open the scoring in the forth, closing the lead to 10-6, before Simon Fraser put the game out of reach for good, scoring six of the game’s final eight goals and running to a decisive 16-8 win.
NOTES
- Eight SFU Players registered points: Thomas 2g, 4a, Tessarolo 5g, Davies 4g, 1a, Adam Foss (Cochrane, AB / Cochrane High School) 1g, 3a, Ben Towner (Port Coquitlam, BC / Terry Fox Secondary) 3g, Riley 1g, 1a, James Poelzer (New Westminster, BC / New Westminster Secondary) 2a, Curtis Manning (Surrey, BC / Fraser Heights Secondary) 1a.
- The Clan fired a total of 49 shots over four quarters and was able to control possession throughout the contest breaking down Oregon’s zone and man-to-man defense.
- SFU sophomore midfield Ben Johnson was dominant on draws winning 18 of 25 face-off’s and recording 12 groundballs. The Clan registered 57 groundballs in total.
- Both goalies, Simon Fraser freshman Dean Stewart (Duncan, BC / Claremont Secondary) and Oregon senior Paul Swanson (Mercer Island, WA / Mercer Island High School), played outstanding games and made several key saves throughout the match-up. Stewart registered 17 saves for the win.
QUOTES
SFU Co-Head Coach Brent Hoskins
On Oregon: “Oregon has earned the reputation as a top program in the MCLA and we will continue to work hard in order to regain the top spot in the PNCLL. Our main focus is still to peak at the end of our season but we are proud of today’s effort versus a quality opponent.”
SFU Co-Head Coach Jeff Cathrea
On Simon Fraser: “With such a young group we have tried to challenge our players as much as possible. They continue to grow as a team and showed an incredible amount of focus and desire in today’s victory. We put a great deal of preparation into our game-plan and it took a lot of maturity to execute.”
Simon Fraser men’s lacrosse is proudly sponsored by Firstar Performance Apparel, Riddell Helmets and Gait Lacrosse and plays its next game at home at Burnaby Lake Sports Complex West on Sunday, April 6 vs. Oregon State University. For further information on the Clan please visit www.sfulacrosse.com.
Contact: Brent Hoskins (604) 836-7748, bhoskins@alumni.sfu.ca
