Stickmen Schooled By Fish

Tuesday, May 6th
New West

The New Westminster Jr.’A’  Salmonbellies mixed powerful outside shots with give and go patterns that shredded the South Fraser Stickmen defence in a 17-4 win Tuesday night in New Westminster.

Once more, the Stickmen gave up a goal inside the first minute – this one at :29 seconds, and were never again in contention.

There were 62 shots by the Salmonbellies on South Fraser’s two goalies – Mike Lowe and Graham Chandler  - who split the first two periods, with Chandler in the net for the third.   The Stickmen managed to mount 29 shots at the other end.

But the statistic that would best describe the game—if it was available -- would be ‘incomplete passes.’   South Fraser committed dozens of errors – forced and unforced – as they converted pass after pass into loose balls, interceptions and New Westminster breakaways.
  
Although the play was sometimes very ragged and South Fraser’s smaller team ran hard all game, they couldn’t stop the New Westminster attack from penetrating to the crease – sometimes unimpeded – to make point blank shot attempts.

After the game, South Fraser Head Coach Jamie Scott said the team had begun to come together in the third period,  making it clear he was unhappy about the mental errors that plagued the team in the first two periods.

Penalties played a role- though not decisive.  The Stickmen were assessed 11 penalties during which they gave up 5 power play goals.   New Westminster was sent to the box for 8 minors – during which they gave up three power play goals.

South Fraser’s next game will be Thursday at home for their first rematch of the season. The Stickmen will take on the Delta Islanders North Surrey Rec. Game time is 8:00 pm.

Home Opener A Tough Fought Loss

Sunday,
April 27th Surrey

With the number of games that Victoria and South Fraser play each other a year they are getting very familiar with each other. Just two weeks ago the visiting Shamrocks ran over the Stickmen in their annual Georgia Straight Cup exhibition game.

This time around it was a little different as the Stickmen put up a fight and made a game of the Shamrocks visit.

Newcomers to the Stickmen were again the story of the day as young American Greg Mahony got things going for South Fraser with the first goal of the day. Victoria put the Stickmen in a 4-1 hole at the end of the first but South Fraser rallied back with three goals in the second of which two were short handed. The Shamrocks hit back and added four of their own to take a 8-4 lead at the end of two.

The third period started of with a penalty fest as the officials tried to keep control of the game. Multiple fights broke out resulting in several game misconducts. Victoria added two more goals and the Stickmen added another power play goal near the end to finish off the tilt with a 10-5 win for Victoria.

Scorers on the day for the Stickmen were Greg Mahony with two and an assist, Travis Voisey with one and ex-Shamrock Scott Davidson added two goals and an assist to his tally on the year. Special teams continue to be the strength of the Stickmen with two power play and two short handed goals out of the five.

Next game is Thursday night when the Stickmen host the Adanacs from Coquitlam. Game time is 8:00pm.

One Man Army Spoils Stickmen Night Of Firsts

Wednesday,
April 23rd Burnaby

It was the Alex Gajic show for Burnaby as he single handedly helped Burnaby come out of a surprising hole and take the Lakers to a 13-8 victory.

South Fraser jumped out quickly to a 3-0 lead before the Lakers pulled starting goalie Brandon Smith, formerly of the Stickmen. Greg Mahony, product of Mercer Island High School got his first box lacrosse goal and put the Stickmen on the board. The firsts kept coming as Darryl Stickler scored his first Junior 'A' goal only to be followed up by Jordan Lypchuk scoring his first Junior goal as well. The night of firsts was to continue in the second.

After a 5-3 first period it was all Burnaby in the second as Gajic added to his first period hat-trick with two more. Looking a little like the Burnaby of old the Lakers took the lead and finished off the second with a 11-7 lead. Scott Davidson scoring his first as a Stickmen since his trade from Victoria this year added one of the South Fraser goals well Travis Voisey scored his first one shoed goal of his career.

The third period was offered little for the Stickmen other then Jordan Innes scoring the final South Fraser goal on the night. Defensively the team held and the Lakers only managed two more to cap the game with a 13-8 score.

Overall the Stickmen showed the league they are much improved and offer a very exciting brand of lacrosse well Burnaby, victory and all must be wondering if they will accomplish any where near what the team did last season.

Stickmen Start Slow But Finish Hard In Ball Breaker

Friday/Sunday,
April 18/20th
Poco

The annual Ball Breaker tournament took place at Poco arena this last weekend giving teams their final chance to look at roster spots and player line ups.

The Stickmen opened up against Coquitlam on Friday night. After going down 3-0 in the first it was Chris Martin who stepped up and scored the first South Fraser goal on the night. Graham Weidenhammer scored the other goal in the second for the Stickmen while Coquitlam added two more themselves to split the second.

The Adanacs continued to control the remainder of the game adding one more to win 6-2. Lowe, Chandler and free agent Cooopersmith all split time in net.

Sunday night the final game of the evening had Poco hosting the Stickmen in what was expected to be a close game. Poco came out strong and took it hard to South Fraser and jumped to an early 5-0 lead before Richard Willmott put one between the pipes for the Stickmen. Ryan Harwood added the only other goal for South Fraser.

Mike Lowe played all three periods and faced a barrage of shots early as the Stickmen continue to come out to a start slow however Lowe came up with some big saves later in the third. With a 7-2 final the Stickmen showed they can play competitive ball with the best if they can just get through the first frame.

Sunday, April 13th
Surrey

Coach Gulliford and staff got their first real look at the 2008 Junior team as the hosted they Victoria Shamrocks in the second annual Georgia Cup challange.

'There were things I was happy about and there were things shown where we definately need to work on, some of which we haven't had a chance to go over yet.' stated Gulliford.

The Stickmen were not up to speed in the first period as the Shamrocks ran them over to take a 6-0 lead. However South Fraser re-grouped and matched up well for most of the second. Chris Martin scored the lone goal for the Stickmen and Victoria capped their lead with two more to go to 9-1.

Ryan Harwood and Graham Weidenhammer scored one each in the third for the home team while Victoria added five more including three by Joel Henry to finish off the Stickmen 14-3.

Several Intermediate players got called up including Bromley, Porter, Peters and Thompson for their first Junior action this year. Lowe and Chandler split time between the pipes with Lowe making 34 saves for a 80.9% save percentage and Chandler with 23 saves for a 79.3% save percentage.