WINNIPEG, Manitoba – Daine DuBois (Williams Lake, B.C.) scored the hat-trick, including a shorthanded goal, to lae the Trinity Western Spartans to a convincing 7-1 victory over the Manitoba Bisons Friday night at the Wayne Fleming Arena at the Max Bell Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The victory improves the Spartans to 3-21-1, while the loss drops the Bisons to 7-15-1.
 
In addition to DuBois three goals, the Spartans had solo goals from Jarrett Penner (Saskatoon, Sask.), Jeremy Klessens (Red Deer, Alta.), Michael Spafford (Saskatoon, Sask.), and Luke Spadafora (Calgary, Alta.), while Manitoba's lone goal came from Tony Apetagon.
 
TWU's Raphael Audet (Rimouski, Que.) made 42 saves to earn the win. While Ross Hawryluk made 24 saves in the loss.
 
AS IT HAPPENED
The Bisons powerplay was no match for the Spartans penalty kill. On a rebound off the stick of Bisons forward Brett Davis, Spartans forward Daine Dubois had the backpressure, went backhand, forehand, and finished with a slick shot shorthanded at 3:22.
 
The Bisons drew another penalty but couldn't capitalize. The Spartans' penalty kill gave them no good chances.
 
At just about the halfway mark, the Bisons got caught flat footed again, as Spartans forward Jarrett Penner cut to the inside to go around Bisons defenceman Parker Malchuk, get position and go five-hole to make it 2-0 at 9:57.
 
To the Bisons advantage, a miscommunication with Spartans netminder Raphal Audet led to the deficit being cut in half and Appetagon tipped it bar down at 14:28.
 
An early high-sticking call to Bisons forward Hayden Ostir gave the Spartans a four-minute powerplay. Shorthanded, Bisons forward Noah Basarab was on the doorstep backhand. Basarab couldn't get the forehand to get it in and tried to shovel it. Audet eventually made the save and the whistle was blown.
 
The game slowed down exponentially in the second period in terms of high dangerous scoring opportunities, and both teams seemed to be more focused on their defensive game.
 
The Bisons had another great chance on a 2-on-1 with Ostir and forward Samuel Stewart, but things quickly took a turn. On a 3-on-1 the other way, Penner couldn't get the shot away, but forward Luke Spadafora found the puck on his stick. It trickled in on Bisons netminder Ross Hawryluk to get the Spartans two goal lead back at 14:22.
 
The Spartans' reign continued as forward Jeremy Klessens picked the top corner and went over the shoulder of Hawryluk making it 4-1 at 15:12.
 
As the period winded down, the physicality picked up. Bisons defenceman Ryan Gottfried lowered the boom on Spartans forward Joshua Bruce to splay him out.
 
While the Bisons continued to outshoot the Spartans in the final period, but they weren't high dangerous scoring chances.
 
The Spartans played their steady, simple game as they had the whole time. They took advantage of every opportunity the Bisons gave them.
 
On a long shift without a whistle, Spartans Bruce and Dubois had a broken 2-on-1. Bisons Hawryluk was out of position and Dubois capitalized for his second of the night at 10:12.
 
The Spartans Dubois secured his hat trick with an empty netter at 17:39, and Spafford closed the scoring for the night at 18:20.
 
QUOTABLE
Ben Walter, Head Coach
"Obviously I'm very excited for our players. I'm proud of the effort today. I think today was a culmination of a lot of work that has been put in this year. Obviously we started well again in the first period – as we have been doing lately – and the difference today is that we were able to sustain it. We played a full 60 minutes and everyone contributed. Audet played great and made some big saves for us at key times tonight. Obviously Daine DuBois with the hat-trick was outstanding. He's been very consistent since Christmas and al his hard work is paying off for him."

NOTABLE
• The Bisons finished the night outshooting the Spartans 43-31.
• The six-goal win is the Spartans' largest margin of victory and the seven-goals tie for the most in program history, matching last year's 7-5 win against Manitoba on January 29 in Langley, B.C.
• TWU went 0-3 on the power play, while Manitoba went 0-5.
• With the win TWU now has one more win than they did in the whole of the 2021-22 season (2-17-1), TWU's first in the Canada West conference.
 
UP NEXT
The Spartans and the Bisons will battle again tomorrow night in Winnipeg. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. CT and can be seen live on CanadaWest.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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