LANGLEY, B.C. – Trinity Western conceded to the visiting Alberta Golden Bears on Saturday, falling 8-2 at the Langley Events Centre on Saturday.
 
The Spartans (2-16-0) claimed a 1-0 lead courtesy of Joshua Bruce's (Surrey, B.C.) first period marker, but the Golden Bears (14-3-1) came back with eight unanswered goals to put the Spartans away.
 
TWU's goals were scored by Jarrett Penner (Saskatoon) and Bruce in Saturday's loss.
 
Alberta's night was highlighted by a four-point performance by defenceman Dylan Plouffe, who came back to the Langley Events Centre as a familiar face due to his multi-year tenure with the Vancouver Giants.
 
AS IT HAPPENED
TWU could not hold on after Bruce's first-period marker, making way for the Golden Bears to move to a 3-1 lead after the first period.
 
The second period bore four more goals for Alberta, moving back-up goaltender Isaac LaBelle (Saskatoon) from the bench, to the net in relief for Talor Joseph (Sherwood Park, Alta.).
 
Alberta's Noah Volcan potted the final goal of the night for the Golden Bears. Volcan's goal was followed up with Jarrett Penner's first U SPORTS goal 35 seconds later.
 
QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Barret Kropf
"That's one of the best teams in the country. We skated with them for 20 minutes today, but that is a really good hockey team. We didn't do ourselves any favours with some undisciplined penalties, but I think we need to build off of our performance so we can be better for next weekend.
 
"When we look back to October, we're a completely different team when we look at ourselves now. We're making progress, but so is everyone else. We're continuing to learn, and I love how our guys have been playing. We're pretty banged up, so a lot of our young guys are getting big minutes which is preparing us well for the future.
 
On the graduating seniors:
"It's tough that we don't get as many games in front of our family friends this season, but it is what it is, and they've done a lot of heavy lifting to get us to this point. It's a little bittersweet getting to honour them tonight, but there isn't much that could be done tonight. It doesn't take anything away from how great they are as men, and leaders as they've helped this program to be where it is now."
 
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-