TUESDAY, October 3, 2017
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SPORTS
A17
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RAIDERS CLASH WITH CLAN MARTY HASTINGS STAFF REPORTER sports@kamloopsthisweek.com
I
t seemed an ominous sign when Justin Blanchard was tripped up by a dog while racing onto the field alongside his amped up Kamloops Rugby Club (KRC) Raiders teammates. The normally adrenaline-filled spectacle — grunting, yelling, spitting and swearing players flooding the pitch — was reduced to a comedy act by Norm, the sizeable, carefree canine intruder. Clouds rolled in a few minutes before kickoff, blocking out the sun on KRC alumni day at Exhibition Park, perhaps another sinister omen indicating the home team was in for an inauspicious Saturday afternoon. As it turned out, the Raiders could have ran onto the field single file under a ladder, each of them holding a black cat, and they still would have trampled the hapless Simon Fraser University (SFU) Clan. Kamloops blitzed SFU 106-0, decimating a young side from Burnaby that was illprepared for the rumbling Raiders. “We showed a lot of character in the second half in sticking to our game plan and not getting off track and letting the game deteriorate,” Raiders’ head coach Derek Pue said. “When I put subs in, the guys who hadn’t had that much time this year put in a good effort and did their job.” Scoring tries for Kamloops were Blanchard (3), Greg Thomson (2), Mitch Day (2), Wyatt Henry (2), Steve Thomson (2), Brian MacKinnon, Jose Melara, Shayne Arthurs, Darsha Lochana and Joe Castellano. Prop Greg Thomson tacked on 26 points with his boot. Kamloops improved to 3-0 in B.C. Rugby Union Division 2 play, while SFU dropped to 1-3. Alumni were treated to a much closer contest earlier in the day, when Kamloops and SFU squared off in a feisty BCRU women’s Division 1 tilt. The Clan bolted out in front 12-0, but
MARTY HASTINGS STAFF REPORTER sports@kamloopsthisweek.com
ALLEN DOUGLAS/KTW
Marni Verschoor of the Kamloops Raiders braces for contact in B.C. Rugby Union play at Exhibition Park on Saturday. For more photos, go online to kamloopsthisweek.com.
the Raiders roared back to take a 17-15 lead seconds before the halftime whistle, when a penalty try was awarded to Marni Verschoor. “It was a very physical game,” Raiders’ scrum half Carling Ryan said. “We were down a little and we pulled it together and had 60 minutes of really good rugby. I don’t know if we could have done any better.” KRC carried momentum into the second half and was pressing for more points when disaster struck, a turnover inside SFU’s 22-metre line that speedy Jessica Piotrowski picked up and took the length of the field for a try. “I just faked a tonne, as much as I could, as hard as I could, and it worked,” said Piotrowski, the Clan centre whose feigned passes, known as dummies in rugby vernacular, were enough to keep Kamloops defenders at bay on her 80-metre jaunt to pay dirt.
Jessica & Marvin MATT MATT ANSWERS TO THE CROSSWORD ON PAGE A24
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“Kamloops gave us a great run for our money today,” Piotrowski said. “It’s not normally that chippy. We were tired and frustrated. Hopefully, that doesn’t happen again.” Erin Jensen of the Raiders seemed the Clan’s No. 1 irritant — “Get off my neck!” an angry member of SFU’s forward pack shrieked at the Kamloops centre. Heated words were often exchanged during stoppages, but cooler heads prevailed and the Clan never relinquished momentum en route to a 32-17 victory. Anna Morrish and Grace Campbell also had tries for the Raiders. SFU improved to 2-1, while Kamloops dropped to 1-2. The Kelowna Crows will be in town to play the Raiders in men’s action on Saturday, with kickoff slated for 1 p.m. at Exhibition. Kamloops’ women have the weekend off.
Two years ago, the Kamloops Blazers opened the WHL campaign with six straight losses, the worst start to a season in franchise history. The 2017-2018 Blazers are 0-5, aiming to avoid equalling the dubious mark against the Prince George Cougars at Sandman Centre on Wednesday, with puck drop set for 7 p.m. “You can’t feel sorry for yourself. You have to stick with the process,” Blazers’ head coach Don Hay said on Monday morning. “We’ve got to stick with it and keep on working. You’ve got to come out next game, next practice and do your best.” The Blazers bounced back from the 0-6 start in 2015-2016 to finish third in the B.C. Division with 85 points. This year’s edition is a much different, much younger squad, a group trying to discover its identity. Vancouver doubled Kamloops 6-3 in Langley on Friday, a game in which the Blazers outshot the Giants 46-37, but fell into a 4-1 hole halfway through the second period. “We did a lot of good things, but we have to find ways to get the lead and play with the lead,” Hay said. “We’re always chasing the game right now. It’s not a good way to play a game.” The Blazers have not yet scored first this season. “The first period in Victoria on Saturday was the best period we’ve played all year,” Hay said. “In the second period, we got into penalty trouble. We had a tough call that went against us, but we did a good job dealing with that. We killed off the 5-on-3. That was really important for our confidence.” The 5-on-3 came about when goaltender Dylan Ferguson was assessed a delay-ofgame penalty, a call the Blazers contested hotly. Hay was assessed a bench minor for his vigorous dispute. See BLAZERS, A19