LANGLEY, B.C. – Friday night saw the Trinity Western Spartans fall 5-2 to the Regina Cougars at the George Preston Recreation Centre.
The Spartans (0-7-0) fell at the hands of the Cougars (4-5-0) who currently find themselves on a three-game win streak after Friday's victory over TWU.
Brayden Brown (Calgary) was the offensive standout for the Spartans by scoring twice to bring his total to three goals on the season.
It was a busy night for second-year goaltender
Isaac LaBelle (Saskatoon), who bore a large responsibility in net for the Spartans on Friday, stopping 48 of 53 he faced on the night.
AS IT HAPPENED
The Cougars Riley Krane opened the scoring at 4:06 of the opening period. With just under five minutes left in the frame, TWU's
Brayden Brown (Calgary) finished off a three-on-one rush, knocking home the Spartans first goal on home ice to even the score 1-1. The Spartans
Brandon Potomak (Aldergrove, B.C.) and
Michael Spafford (Saskatoon) picked up their first assists of the season.
The Cougars pressed in the second period and had put 30 shots on TWU's Labelle before the midway point of the contest. Eventually, Regina broke through scoring three times in the final 10 minutes of the second to take a 4-1 lead into the third period. Regina had a 44-12 edge in shots through 40 minutes.
The third period saw the Spartans come out hard as
Hayden Guilderson (Chlliwack, B.C.) led the charge. Guilderson created Brown's second goal of the night, tying up the opposing centreman as Josh Bruce (Surrey, B.C.) swept the puck over to Brown who roofed it past Regina goaltender Brandon Holtby. With the Spartans heading into the latter half of the final period with a two-goal deficit, Ben Duperrault silenced the home crowd at the George Preston Recreation Centre as the Cougars rolled to a 5-2 victory.
QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Barret Kropf
"Positive would be that last 20 minutes. I think we finally figured out how hard we have to work, even though the previous three teams we played were top ten. Regina's work ethic is up there with the rest of those guys. That's a good team.
"I think we continue to learn. If you're not winning, you're learning, even though these are hard lessons. It has taken some time for our guys to realize, we have a lot of beat up bodies and injuries, so we're already a mashed unit.
"On paper, they might not be a strong team, but they work just as hard as those top five teams. We finally figured that out in the third period. I'm looking forward to tomorrow to see if we can finally put together a full 60. Once we do that, we'll start to see some wins in the column."
NOTABLE
- Since going four games without scoring a goal, the Spartans have now tallied five goals in their last two outings.
- Since entering Canada West this fall, Friday's game marked the first time TWU hadn't played a team currently ranked in the U SPORTS Top 10. The Spartans have already played No. 2 Saskatchewan, No. 3 UBC and No. 10 Mount Royal.
- TWU's last victory in a regular season game was Feb. 22, 2020 (5-2 over Vancouver Island University), when they were playing in the British Columbia Intercollegiate Hockey League.
UP NEXT
The rematch is Saturday at 7:15 p.m. (PT) back at the George Preston Recreation Centre.
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.
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