Box Score LANGLEY, B.C. -  On the strength of two goals from Sarah Potomak (Aldergrove, B.C.), Trinity Western's women's hockey team picked up a 3-1 win against the Alberta Pandas at George Preston Arena Friday night.

The Spartans (2-3) never trailed against the Pandas (3-2) as they earned a win over Alberta for the first time in program history. 

Potomak led the way offensively and tallied what stood as the game-winner, while Chelsea Debusschere (Lloydminster, Alta.) added the third goal for TWU. Alberta's Madison Willin scored the lone goal for the Pandas.

Kate Fawcett (Tottenham, Ont.) made 19 saves while picking up her first win of the season for Trinity Western while Alberta goalie Halle Oswald (Sanford, MB) made 17 saves in the loss.

AS IT HAPPENED
The Spartans opened the scoring seven minutes into the game when Debusschere streaked into the Pandas zone and buried a perfect pass from Brooklyn Anderson (Shellbrook, Sask) in the top corner. But the Pandas answered 30 seconds later, after a cherry-picking Willan took an outlet pass in for a breakaway and snuck a snapshot through Fawcett. 

The game stayed tied until late in the second period when Potomak picked off a pass in the offensive zone, walked in alone and made a beautiful backhand-forehand move before sliding it past a sprawling Oswald for a highlight reel goal.

Potomak added her second goal of the game midway through the third when she banged home a rebound in the crease. She was millimetres from a hat trick, but her shot at the empty net in the dying seconds of the game went off of the post.

QUOTABLE
Jean Laforest – TWU Head Coach
"Obviously very pleased with the outcome of the game. The team played very well for 60 minutes. Alberta is a very good team with an aggressive forecheck, and they execute well – so it was a big win. It think it was an evenly matched game, but we took advantage of our opportunities. It was one of those nights where we changed some line combinations, and we saw some things we really liked with those changes. We'll continue with that tomorrow – it was a big two points for us.

"The least we want to do is split a weekend series, so tomorrow night is a chance for us to gain some ground. We'd love to sweep Alberta. We're focussed on looking at that game as a possibility to bump us up in the standings."

NOTABLE

• This is the first time the Spartans have won a game by multiple goals since joining Canada West last season.
• Tonight's win also means TWU has already matched last year's win total of two - just five games into the 2022-23 season.
• The victory marks both the first time the Spartans have scored multiple goals in a game against Alberta (2-1 loss on Feb. 4, 2022 and 4-1 loss on Feb 5, 2022).

UP NEXT
A rematch between these two teams is set for Saturday, Oct. 15 at the Langley Eventst Centre. Puck drop at 7:00 p.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-