LANGLEY, B.C. – Trinity Western played in their long-awaited home opener at the Langley Events Centre against Mount Royal on Friday, falling 9-0 to the visiting Cougars.
 
The Spartans (0-3-0) were outmatched in a physical, and speed-reliant bout between the two Canada West sides which saw MRU score five shorthanded goals on the Spartans.

MRU wasted no time in taking control of the game as the visiting Cougars found various ways to score. The first goal of the game came on a point shot taken by MRU defenseman Connor Blake. Blake's shot was beautifully tipped by Riley Sawchuk, who added two more in the later stages of the game to complete a hat-trick.
 
Just before the period's end, the Spartans got a chance on the power play which saw TWU forward Brayden Brown (Calgary) ring the puck off the crossbar, and up into the boards, nearly giving the Spartans a glimmer of hope against a very impressive Mount Royal team. The visiting Cougars continued to pepper Spartans goaltender Talor Joseph (Sherwood Park, Alta.) with shots, finishing the first period of action at 4-0 in MRU's favour.
 
Although the Spartans earned a series of chances to score on the power play, MRU fought back, exposing TWU through two-on-one breakouts if the puck was turned over.
 
Still, the power play brought some exciting moments, and solid chances as Travis Verveda (Alix, Alta.) quarterbacked for Brayden Brown, Brandon Potomak (Aldergrove, B.C.), Logan Casavant (Melfort, Sask.), and Kade Vilio (Aldergrove, B.C.). Verveda was able to orchestrate solid chances, but MRU's speed proved to be too much for the Spartans.

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NOTABLE

• Friday's game saw second-year goaltender Isaac LaBelle (Saskatoon) make his first U SPORTS appearance. Although Talor Joseph was given the start, LaBelle came in to relieve Joseph after the Spartans went down 6-0 in the second period. LaBelle played really well, stopping 30 of 33 shots he faced through his 25 minutes on the ice.
• Joseph and LaBelle received little help in keeping shots off the net on Friday as MRU outshot the Spartans 49-19.
• The Spartans were strong on the penalty kill tonight stopping six of seven chances MRU had to score on the power play.

QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Barret Kropf
"It'd be pretty naïve to say that I didn't think these nights would ever happen, but I just didn't hope that they would happen so soon.
 
"Our penalty kill was really good today, killing most of the penalties tonight. We need to stay out of the box, but it was a positive from tonight.
 
"It is disappointing to do this on a home-opening night, so this one is going to sting. It'll be our job as a coaching staff to find the reset button for tomorrow."

UP NEXT
The Spartans are staying home as they face off against MRU at the George Preston Recreation Centre on Saturday (7:15p.m.).

About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 13 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, hockey, cross country and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes as an independent team in men's rugby. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 12 U SPORTS team championships and 29 Canada West team championships.

-TW-