LANGLEY, B.C. – Trinity Western lost 6-2 to Regina in the Spartans home-opener Friday at the George Preston Arena. 

The Spartans opened the scoring early in the second period, but four unanswered goals from the Cougars put Regina ahead for good as they cruised to their first win of the season. Regina is now 1-2-1-1, while the Spartans drop to 0-3-0-0. 

Tanner Hopps (North Delta, B.C.) and Josh Borynec (Parkland County, Alta.) scored for the Spartans while first-year goalie Leon Sommer (Linz, Austria) made 46 saves between the pipes. 

Reinga's Eric Pearce and Paycen Bjorklund each scored twice, while Ayden Third and Logan Barlage tallied singles. Goalie Ethan Anders made 19 saves to earn his first win of the year. 

QUOTABLE
Ben Walter – Head Coach
"I thought we came out great. The guys were excited and were ready to go. We were skating and we were working and playing the way we should and we had some chances. It was too bad we couldn't capitalize on those chances early. But then, I think they just outworked us. They play a simple and effective game. It's nothing too crazy, but they work hard and they shot a lot of pucks, which is something we need to learn from as a team. 

"We need some guys to step up and I think we need to have a much higher effort level as a group for 60 minutes. It can't just be 10 minutes of hard work here and there."

AS IT HAPPENED 
TWU opened the scoring in the second period when a bouncing puck off the stick of Jarrett Penner (Saskatoon) found its way its way to Hopps, who rifled it into the net from 10 feet out. 

The Spartans lead lasted only 1:42, with Regina's Carson Sass springing Pearce on a breakaway, which the Regina forward converted with a quick shot past the blocker of Sommer. 

Bjorklund put the Cougars ahead at 10:46 of the middle frame, before Third and Barlage added to the advantage. A goal from TWU's Borynec with 2:12 left in the second period put the Spartans back within two goals going into the second intermission.

However, a second goal from Pearce at 8:14 of the third period and an empty-netter from Bjorklund sealed the win.

NOTABLE
•    TWU will look for its first-ever win over Regania on Saturday night, having dropped each of their first five meetings since the Spartans joined Canada West. 
•    The Spartans have scored at least two goals in every game against the Cougars, but have given up at least three in all five contests.

UP NEXT
The Spartans and Cougars play the rematch Saturday at 7 p.m. (PT) 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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