LANGLEY, B.C. – Trinity Western fell 10-5 to No. 7-ranked Alberta on Friday at the George Preston Arena.
 
The Spartans (2-18-1) got an early 2-0 start courtesy of goals from Daine DuBois (Williams Lake, B.C.) and Mitchell Joss (Winnipeg), but the Golden Bears (14-5-2) motored back with five unanswered goals to put the game out of reach.
 
TWU's goals were scored by DuBois (6:00 1^st, 0:09 3^rd), Joss (11:58 1^st), Jonathan Krahn (Chilliwack, B.C.) (10:37 2^nd), and Joshua Bruce (Surrey, B.C.) (19:41 3^rd).
 
On the other end, the Golden Bears got goals from Justin Hall (15:09 1^st), Eric Florchuk (16:40 1^st, 14:52 2^nd), Jared Freadrich (1:18 2^nd, 10:21 2^nd), Josh Prokop (2:33 2^nd, 1:47 3^rd), Tyler Preziuso (12:49 2^nd), Daneel Lategan (12:02 3^rd), and Dylan Plouffe (15:29 3^rd).
 
In net, Spartans goaltender Raphael Audet (Rimouski, Que.) stopped 43 of the 52 shots he saw before being relieved by Berk Berkeliev (Calgary) – who stopped five of six attempts on his net. For Alberta, Matt Berlin earned his fourth victory of the season, making 19 saves on 24 TWU shots.
 
AS IT HAPPENED
The Spartans came out of the gates hot, riding a DuBois short-handed marker before Joss potted his 10^th goal of the season at the 11:58 mark. Still, the Golden Bears had an answer as Hall and Florchuk found the back of Audet's net to end the period at 2-2.
 
Alberta outscored the Spartans 5-1 in the second period, ending the frame at a 7-3 line favouring the visitors.


DuBois netted his second of the night only nine seconds into the third period to bring the Spartans within three, but Alberta rallied for three more goals in the final period. Bruce would end the night's scoring at 10-5.
 
QUOTABLE
Ben Walter – TWU Head Coach
"We came out with a lot of energy, so that's the start we were looking for. We're putting the puck in the net and we're creating more chances than we used to. A few of our guys have taken some big steps in the last couple weeks. Still, giving up that many shots, chances, and goals won't win you a hockey game. That's where we need to reset our focus – the defensive side of the puck. We can't expect our goalies to stop everything when some of the chances are that good. Raphael [Audet] played really well – he made some huge saves for us. We need to take care of the puck a lot better and win more of our one-on-one puck battles.
 
"[Daine] DuBois has been playing so hard, so it's good to see him get rewarded with the goals he is scoring. That line has been really good for us. [Adam] Oates has come a long way too, he gives us more with every game he gets in the lineup."
 
NOTABLE

• Friday was TWU's highest scoring game since joining Canada West men's hockey. The Spartans recently broke their record on Jan. 6, 2023 (7-6 L vs. Saskatchewan).
• DuBois is now riding a three-game point-streak.
• Joss is TWU's first player to hit the 10-goal benchmark at the Canada West level.

UP NEXT
The Spartans rematch Alberta at the Langley Events Centre on Saturday (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, as well as women's and men's disc golf. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 13 U SPORTS team championships and 32 Canada West team championships.

-TW-