EDMONTON – It was a wild finish at the Downtown Community Arena as Trinity Western defeated the MacEwan Griffins 6-4 for their first Canada West victory in program history on Saturday.
 
The Spartans (1-9-0) pulled out a historic victory over the Griffins (3-7-0) with Brayden Brown (Calgary) scoring the game-winner in the third period.
 
It was a notable night for Kade McMillen (Carievale, Sask.), Hayden Guilderson (Chilliwack, B.C.), Connor Vermeulen (Cochrane, Alta.), and Jeremy Klessens (Red Deer, Alta.) who all took home two-point efforts en route to the team's first victory of the 2021-22 season.
 
AS IT HAPPENED
Kolby Johnson struck quickly, hopping on a rebounding shot by Adam Nobes (North Vancouver, B.C.) to give the Spartans an early lead. After Johnson's goal, the Griffins answered back with three goals to wrap up the period at a 3-1 lead for MacEwan.
 
Although the first period ended in favour of the home side Griffins, the Spartans refused to go down in the second segment of play. Jeremy Klessens (Red Deer, Alta.) and Kade Vilio (Aldergrove, B.C.) scored markers to bring the game to a 3-3 tie. The Spartans dealt with penalty trouble throughout the latter half of the second period, forcing them to kill three consecutive penalties.  
 
The Griffins answered back with a goal at the beginning of the third which narrowly snuck by Spartans goaltender Talor Joseph (Sherwood Park, Alta.). Soon after, Luke Spadafora (Calgary) tied it up again off a back-handed attempt. Time progressed as both teams traded blows. Joseph remained solid in net while the defensive group accelerated chances for TWU's forwards. With just under 10 minutes remaining, Logan Casavant (Melfort, Sask.) carried the puck through the neutral zone, splitting two MacEwan defenders to find Brayden Brown (Calgary) at the net. Brown put it home for his fourth goal of the season, giving the Spartans the lead. Talor Joseph made a massive save nearly a minute after, stopping a breakaway attempt by the Griffins with his left pad to keep the Spartans in front. The game rolled onwards with MacEwans dominating the course of play. Still, Joseph stood tall down the stretch to force the Griffins into pulling goaltender Ty Taylor. With Taylor on the bench, Hayden Guilderson (Chilliwack, B.C.) sealed the deal, potting an empty-netter as the Spartans took home their first Canada West win in program history.

NOTABLE

• Kade McMillen (Carievale, Sask.) had a memorable night, assisting on the goals scored by Klessens and Vilio. Not only was his first assist standing as his first point in Canada West, but this performance serves as his first multi-point game at the U SPORTS level. Klessens and Connor Vermeulen (Cochrane, Alta.) also followed suit.
• McMillen wasn't the only Spartan to break the duck as Vilio and Spadafora scored their first goals in Canada West on Saturday. Adam Nobes' assist on Kolby Johnson's first period goal also stands as his first point in U SPORTS.
• Talor Joseph was outstanding down the stretch in Saturday's historic victory, making 40 saves on 44 shots faced to take home the first goaltending win in program history.

QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Barret Kropf
"It has been the better part of a decade trying to build a program that can compete at the highest level. Tonight, our guys were very injured, so we needed contributions from every guy tonight. From Talor [Joseph] to our forwards, I thought everyone put forth a strong effort. We kept telling the guys that we needed to follow our process across 60 minutes, and tonight they did that.

"It was a special moment. A really special one. I'm proud that we got that win for the school tonight."
 

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UP NEXT
The Spartans will host UBC on Dec. 2^nd and 4^th at the Langley Events 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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