LANGLEY, British Columbia – The Trinity Western Spartans dropped a 6-3 decision to the visiting Simon Fraser Red Leafs in pre-season play Friday night at the George Preston Recreation Centre in Langley, B.C.

The Spartans outshot the Red Leafs 40-35. However, special teams were the difference as Simon Fraser was 1/2 on the power play and had a shorthanded marker as Trinity Western finished 0/4 with the man advantage.

TWU's Raphael Audet made 29 saves in the loss, while SFU's Cale Dolan made 37 saves to earn the win.

AS IT HAPPENED
The Red Leafs jumped out to an early 1-0 lead when Logan Bromhead scored a power play goal on the first shot of the game at 3:39 of the opening period. Simon Fraser made it 2-0 at 8:28 when Jacob Lacasse scored for the Red Leafs.

The Spartans got on the scoresheet at 13:49 when Jarrett Penner found the back of the Red Leafs net. Trinity Western's Landon Fuller tied the contest at 16:42.Which would send the two teams into the first intermission tied at 2-2.

Simon Fraser's Logan Bromhead got his second of the game on a breakaway with 30.2 seconds remaining in the second period to give the Red Leafs a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes of play.
The Red Leafs broke open the game with two straight goals in the third period. SFU's Mitch Ledyard scored at 2:08 followed by Jason Chu at 7:11 to give SFU a 5-2 lead.

TWU's Mikol Sartor scored at 10:04 to make it a two goal game with the Spartans trailing 5-3.

SFU's Mateo Coltellaro sealed the win for the Red Leafs with a goal at 14:47. To make the final 6-3 for the visitors

QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Ben Walter
"I thought we had some great moments and did some good things tonight, but it didn't happen enough. There is a lot for us to work on, which is a good thing at this point of the season, but we just need to develop our habits a little bit more. We need to see as stronger work ethic. Honestly they out worked us tonight, and it was evident and we have some work to do, but that's okay.
 
Special teams:
We had some good looks on the power play and we were moving the puck, but we are not making quick enough decisions. We were holding on to pucks too long and we are passing up shooting opportunities when we do not need too.

On the teams slow start to the game.
Last weekend our start was great against UBC, we jumped on them right away. But tonight it was the opposite as they jumped on us and we weren't ready. You go down two goals early like that, it is tough to claw back, it doesn't matter who you are playing.

Getting ready for tomorrow's rematch.
The nice thing is we get to regroup quickly and play them again tomorrow night. We will shuffle the lineup again, as our goal is to get all the guys into at least one game and get ready for the season, but we will have some new bodies tomorrow.

NOTABLE
• The Spartans are 22-17 lifetime against the Red Leafs. Prior to last season TWU and SFU were both part of the BCIHL.
• Last season the Red Leafs won their fourth BCIHL championship.
• In their last meeting, Oct. 8, 2021, TWU defeated SFU 5-4.
• The three stars of the game were Logan Bromhead (SFU), Jacob Lacasse (SFU) and Landon Fuller (TWU)
 
UP NEXT
The Spartans will match-up again against the Red Leafs tomorrow night at the Bill Copeland Sports Center. Puck drop is scheduled for 4 p.m. TWU opens Canada West conference play Friday, September 30 when they travel to Saskatoon, SK to take on the Huskies. The Spartans Canada West home openers are Friday, October 7, and Saturday, October 8 when they will host the Mount Royal Cougars. Both games will be played at George Preston Recreation Centre. All TWU games can be seen love on Canada West TV.
 
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 13 U SPORTS team championships and 32 Canada West team championships.
 
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