LANGLEY, B.C. – Trinity Western ended their inaugural U SPORTS season in a thrilling match against the UBC Thunderbirds at the Langley Events Centre on Saturday night, falling 7-5 to the visiting team.
The Spartans (2-18-0) enjoyed a stellar three-point night (2G, 1A) from
Brooklyn Anderson (Shellbrook, Sask.) while UBC's (13-5-0) Ireland Perrott also posted two goals and an assist.
Olivia Leier (Regina) also chipped in with two assists, ending her successful rookie campaign with four goals and two assists on the 2021-22 season.
In net,
Jadeyn Kastning (Medicine Hat, Alta.) played her final game as a Spartan. The graduating senior kept the Spartans in the game with 33 saves on 40 shots faced.
AS IT HAPPENED
The first period started with exciting stretches of play for both the Thunderbirds and the Spartans. With TWU generating some solid 2-on-1 opportunities early in the period, it was the Thunderbirds who struck first as Emma Hall tipped a point-shot from Sierra LaPlante to put UBC up 1-0. Although the Spartans found themselves on the raw end of the score early in the first, nothing stopped
Brooke Legault (St. Francois Xavier, Man.) from putting her second goal of the season home. The rookie forward corralled a loose puck in the high slot, beating UBC goaltender Reese Hiddleston to tie up the game. Exactly one minute later,
Olivia Leier (Regina) rushed down the left wing to find
Brooklyn Anderson (Shellbrook, Sask.) trailing on a 3-on-2 rush. Anderson corralled the puck and put it home to give the Spartans a 2-1 advantage heading into the second period.
After the first period tilted in favour of the Spartans, the visiting Thunderbirds battled back with a massive second period. UBC proceeded to score five unanswered power play goals in a period which was simply defined by special teams play. A total of 13 penalties were handed out in the period, with TWU taking nine of them. The period rolled to a 6-2 close favouring UBC.
With a wild second period in the books, the third period would also bear a substantial amount of twists and turns for the home fans at the Langley Events Centre. TWU's
Chloe Reid (Leduc, Alta.) would make quick work of a stellar pass from
Ashlee Wolfe (Holbein, Sask.) to bring the Spartans within three. The Spartans followed up with goals from Anderson and Chelsea DeBusschere (Lloydminster, Alta.), moving to three unanswered and one goal separating the two teams.
With a penalty committed by the Spartans soon after Anderson's second goal of the night, UBC's Ireland Perrott spoiled TWU's night, poking the puck through
Jadeyn Kastning's legs to claim a 7-5 victory for the Thunderbirds.
NOTABLE
- After her astounding three-point performance on Saturday night, Brooklyn Anderson ends the season as TWU's leading scorer, posting four goals and six assists through 15 games played.
- Graduating senior Jadeyn Kastning will stand as a historical figure in TWU women's hockey history. The goaltender made a 31-save shutout on Nov. 5th, 2022, carrying TWU to their first victory in program history over Saskatchewan.
QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Jean Laforest
"We won the first period 1-0, and we won the third period 2-1. The second period unravelled in a lot of ways from a penalty perspective. Some penalties were deserved, some not as much, so you're left scratching your head in regards to what happened in the second.
"I know we're all tired of moral victories, but I'm really proud of the girls. If you look at the first game we played against them [UBC] this season, we lost 3-1, we hung in tight. Tonight, we came back from a 6-2 deficit to make it 7-5. That's a lot of goals. We made some nice steps, this sets us up well for next season. I think it would have been easy for us to fold the tent at 6-2, but we dug in. That speaks volumes about this group."
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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