LANGLEY, B.C. – Regina's Ty Barnstable scored with less than three minutes to play to break the deadlock and help lift the visiting Cougars to a 4-2 win over Saturday at the Langley Events Centre. 

The Spartans held a 2-1 lead heading into the third period, but three goals from Regina, including an empty-netter sealed the win and gave the Cougars (2-2-1-1) a weekend sweep. The loss drops the Spartans to 0-4-0-0. 

Aidan Steinke (St. Alberta, Alta.) and Kolby Johnson (Kerrobert, Sask.) scored for the Spartans, while Regina's Jordan Boyrsiuk, Eric Pearce and Jakob Brook also tallied for the Cougars. 

TWU netminder Leon Sommer (Linz, Austria) made 35 saves, while Regina's Adam Evanoff was good on 30 of the 32 shots he faced. 

QUOTABLE
Ben Walter – Head Coach
"I thought we had a lot of jump and energy and for most of the game we played the way we wanted to. It was definitely a step in the right direction for this group. There were just a couple of key moments where they had guys who made plays and we didn't. I think a couple of puck battles that we lost at the wrong time turned the game. Credit to Regina because they had guys who made us pay for it. We're still learning and we'll take it into practice next week. 

"It's a 60-minute game and you have to be on for all 60 minutes. This is a really good league with some really good teams and if you let off even for a couple of minutes, it can hurt you. We'll keep getting better every day and we'll find ourselves at that level at some point this year."

AS IT HAPPENED 
Steinke opened the scoring at 5:03 of the first period, when he banged home a loose puck at the top of the crease to give the Spartans the lead. 

The Cougars evened the game just over two minutes into the second period when Borysiuk was able to find the back of the net. 

The Spartans restored their lead at 5:39 of the middle frame, with Johnson scoring a shorthanded marker and Michael Spafford (Saskatoon) picking up the assist.

However, the Cougars responded with a shorthanded goal of their own when Pearce scored just under seven minutes into the third period. 
 
Then, with 3:47 to play, Barnstable capitalized on the power play to give Regina the lead.

Brook scored with 40 seconds to play on an empty net.

NOTABLE
•    TWU was 0 for 3 on the power play, while Regina was 1 for 5. 
•    The Spartans Sommer finished the weekend making 81 saves.

UP NEXT
The Spartans host UBC Oct. 19 at 7 p.m. at the Langley Events Centre.

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 and disc golf. 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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