Box Score Gallery: (2/7/2020) MHKY vs SELKIRK
LANGLEY, B.C. – Fifth-year goaltender Alistair Duncan (Abbotsford, B.C.) made 22 saves and forward Hayden Guilderson (Chilliwack, B.C.) scored two goals and added an assist to lead the Trinity Western Spartans to a 5-2 victory over Selkirk Friday at the Langley Events Centre.
TWU (16-1-0-1) also had goals from Dylan Cusmano (Abbotsford), Spencer Roberts (Stoufville, Ont.) and Brayden Brown (Calgary), as the Spartans have now won four consecutive games.
Dylan Heppler and Jack Karran each scored for Selkirk (5-11-0-3), as the fourth-place Saints have picked up just one win over their last 13 games.
The Spartans got on the board just 3:40 into the game, as Roberts buried a Joe Sylvain (Girouxville, Alta.) wrap around feed to make it 1-0 TWU. Just under eight minutes later Guilderson made it 2-0 Spartans, firing a wrist shot five-hole past Kramer.
Cusmano would add another tally for TWU with just 16 seconds to go in the period, as the Spartans held a 3-0 lead going into the second.
Heppler got the Saints on the board just 1:45 into the second, beating Duncan in the crease to make it 3-1. Guilderson would respond for TWU, as the Spartans forward scored off a Travis Verveda (Alix, Alta.) rebound to make it 4-1. Selkirk would respond 17 second later however, with Karran on the receiving end of a two-on-one to cut the Saints deficit to two goals.
Despite a number of chances for Selkirk in the third period, Brown stretched the TWU lead back to three goals by scoring off a wrist to make it 5-2 with 13 minutes to play. The Spartans would then hold on for the 5-2 victory on home ice.
QUOTABLE
Barret Kropf – TWU Head Coach
"It's always special when you can take some time to honour your graduates, and I thought our guys battled really hard for them tonight. It was also great to see Selkirk's players and coaching staff show a ton of class and leadership by choosing to watch and take part of it all.
On Alistair Duncan's performance in net
"Al has been a brilliant teammate for us over the years. He's played behind some unbelievable goalies over his time here at TWU in Silas Matthys and Lucas Mills, but through it all he's been a great teammate. Tonight he made some really big stops and kept us in the game, and that seemed to really spark the guys. Once we got through that early part of the game we started playing the way we wanted, but it wasn't an easy win for Al tonight – he definitely had to earn the win."
NOTABLE
- The Spartans were celebrating their graduating athletes, with all five in the lineup. Those included forward Evan Last, defencemen Dustin Deugau, Tyler McMinn and Dylan Sakatch, and goaltender Alistair Duncan.
- Selkirk's last win against TWU came over a year ago, on Jan. 31, 2019 (3-2).
- TWU had 36 shots on net, while Selkirk had 24.
NEXT UP
The Spartans continue their home stand Saturday as they host the Victoria Vikes at 2 p.m. (PT) at the Aldergrove Credit Union Community Centre.
About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 11 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, cross country and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes in the British Columbia Intercollegiate Hockey League (BCIHL) in men's hockey and as an independent team in men's rugby. The men's and women's hockey programs will begin playing in Canada West and U SPORTS in 2020-21. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 12 U SPORTS team championships and 27 Canada West team championships and two BCIHL championships.
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