FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE By William Howard, SFU Lacrosse Media Relations Simon Fraser University Lacrosse
Event: Men's Lacrosse Site: UO Lacrosse Field, Eugene, Oregon Score: No. 3 Simon Fraser University 16, No. 11 University of Oregon 12 Record: SFU (8-0, 6-0 PNCLL), UO (7-4, 4-1 PNCLL) Next SFU Game: Sunday, April 5, 2009 – vs. Oregon State University – Corvallis, Oregon (Reser Stadium)
NOTES - Eight (8) SFU players registered points: Ben Towner (Port Coquitlam, BC / Terry Fox Secondary) 7g; Adam Foss (Cochrane, Alberta / Cochrane High School) 4a; Chris Tessarolo (New Westminster, BC / New Westminster Secondary) 4g; Ben Davies (New Westminster, BC / New Westminster Secondary) 1g, 2a; Russel Thomas (Nanoose Bay, BC / Ballenas Secondary) 3g; Curtis Manning (Surrey, BC / Fraser Heights Secondary) 1a; Jeff Matheson (Coquitlam, BC / Gleneagle Secondary) 1g; Kevin Riley (Coquitlam, BC / Gleneagle Secondary) 1a. - Clan goaltenders Mike Ripley (Saskatoon, SK / E.D. Feehan High School) and Dean Stewart (Duncan, BC / Claremont Secondary) continued to split halves in goal. Ripley played the first two quarters making 6 saves with 8 goals against; Stewart made 6 saves in the second half, allowing 4 goals against. - Fraser registered 36 ground balls. Defensive midfield Ben Johnson (Calgary, AB / Berkshire Preparatory) led the Clan with 8 while Manning added 6.
QUOTES SFU Co-Head Coach Brent Hoskins On Oregon: "Oregon came out hard tonight and capitalized on some early chances to gain momentum in the first half. The UO offense did a good job of creating scoring opportunities and the Ducks played physical for all four quarters."
SFU Co-Head Coach Jeff Cathrea On Simon Fraser: “Our offense did a good job a controlling possession early in the first quarter but could not capitalize on our chances. Oregon did a good job of taking advantage of our mistakes and maintained momentum as we began to rush the ball. It was great to see our players maintain composure when things were not clicking and begin to fire on all cylinders in the second half, outscoring the Ducks 6-1 in the fourth quarter for the win.”
Simon Fraser men's lacrosse is proudly sponsored by Firstar Sports Inc., Onyx Lacrosse / Riddell Helmets and Gait Lacrosse. For further information on the Clan please visit www.sfulacrosse.com.
Oregon opened the weekend Friday night against perennial PNCLL rival Simon Fraser in arguably the biggest game of the year for both teams. The Ducks looked to bounce back from two straight losses in California against Loyola Marymount (11) and Chapman (2,) while Simon Fraser faced their first tough test after a string of blowout victories since playing BYU in a game that had playoff implications for both teams. The Ducks hosted their biggest crowd of the year and they made their presence felt throughout the game in typical Oregon fashion. The U of O started the game strong, taking and holding the lead early in what would prove to be a back and forth battle the entire sixty minutes. Chad Loescher started the scoring for the Ducks after the defense held when they were two men down and Oregon held the lead 4-3 at the end of the first quarter. The fast pace of the game continued in the second quarter, with the teams trading scores Oregon kept its hold on the lead 8-6 at halftime. Simon Fraser came out strong from halftime and quickly evened the score at 8 until Loescher put in another one of his 3 goals to once again give the Ducks the lead. Oregon still had possession of the lead 11-10 at the end of the third quarter but the Clan once again started strong and went on a three goal run to take their first lead of the game with about 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter. After SFU took the lead the Ducks started making some questionable decisions on the field which led to fast break goals and the final score of 16-12. Coach John Wright said of the fourth quarter, “We looked really great for most of the game but as a young team we really need to learn how to close out a team like Simon Fraser, who is a very good team in their own right, and play a complete sixty minutes.”