WINNIPEG, Manitoba – The Trinity Western Spartans scored twice in the opening 2:30 minutes and used that fast start to defeat the Manitoba Bisons 3-2 Thursday night at the Wayne Fleming Arena in Winnipeg, Man.  The victory is the first of the season for the Spartans as TWU moves to 1-8-0, while the loss keeps the Bisons winless at 0-8-1.
 
First-year Leon Sommer (Linz, Austria was outstanding in net for the Spartans, stopping 34 shots to claim his first win as a Spartan. Manitoba's Kolby Thornton ended the night with 27 saves in the Bisons loss.
 
AS IT HAPPENED
The Spartans wasted no time getting going with TWU third-year forward Jarrett Penner (Saskatoon, Sask.) finding the back of the net 32 seconds into the contest.
 
TWU didn't allow Manitoba to catch their breath as less than two minutes later third-year forward Aidan Steinke (St. Albert, Alta.) made it 2-0 for the Spartans at 2:31.
 
The Spartans continued their strong first period when rookie forward Christian Lowe (Port Moody, B.C.), with his first goal as a Spartan, made it 3-0 for the visitors from Langley, B.C. at 10:56.
 
TWU finished the period outshooting Manitoba 17-7 to go into the intermission up 3-0.
 
Manitoba turned the tables in shots in the second period, outshooting TWU 14-8, but thanks to Sommer the Bisons were unable to turn on the red light at the score remained 3-0 for the Spartans after 40 minutes.
 
Manitoba's Jonny Hooker snapped the shutout bid by Sommer at 12:58 of the final frame.
 
At 17:33 the Bisons' Hayden Ostir made it a one-goal game with a power play marker cutting the TWU lead to 3-2 with 2:27 remaining.
 
The Spartans, who were outshot 15-5 in the final period, were pinned in their end for much of the final period, but they did not break as they held on for the 3-2 win.
 
QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Ben Walter
"Obviously it's great to get our first win of the season.  We had another great start and then we were able to hold them off enough the second half of the game.  I thought that all of our players contributed to the win tonight, we had to dig deep in the third period and got some big time defensive efforts from some players including Aidan Steinke who was great on the or salty kill and blocked a lot of shots for us."  
 
TWU Standouts:
"Leon played outstanding in net and I'm very happy for him getting his first U SPORTS win.  He made some big saves for us at the end.  Christian also had a great game and ended up with the game-winner for his first career U SPORTS goal."
 
NOTABLE

• The Bisons outshot the Spartans 36-30.
• TWU finished the night going 0/4 on the power play, while Manitoba finished the night 1/5.
• Last week TWU the Spartans lost both games to the Saskatchewan Huskies 5-0 in Saskatoon, Sask.
• Last week the Bisons lost both games to the Mount Royal Cougars 4-2 on Friday night, and 5-2 on Saturday night at home in Winnipeg, Man.
• The Spartans are 3-4 lifetime against the Bisons. In their last meeting,

 
UP NEXT
The Spartans and the Bisons will finish off the two-game series tomorrow night in Winnipeg, Man. Puck drop is scheduled 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 14 U SPORTS team championships and 34 Canada West team championships.
 
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