SASKATOON, Saskatchewan – The Trinity Western Spartans battled the Saskatchewan Huskies for the entire contest, before eventually falling 2-1 to the No. 10 Huskies Friday night at the Merlis Belsher Place in Saskatoon, Sask. The one-goal loss drops the Spartans to 6-12-1, while the win moves the Huskies to 13-4-2.
 
TWU third-year centre Jordan Matthews (Okotoks, Alta.) scored the lone goal for the Spartans, while Kate Ball, and Mallory Dyer tallied for the Huskies.

Third-year Kate Fawcett (Tottenham, Ont.) made 23 saves in the Spartans' loss, while Camryn Drever made 25 saves in the win for the Huskies.
 
AS IT HAPPENED
The Spartans Jordan Matthews (4) opened the scoring at the 6:29 mark of the first period on the heels of a turnover on the Huskie blue line which resulted in a breakaway goal.  Matthews slid one five-hole past Drever to give the Spartans the 1-0 first-period lead.
The Huskies tied the game up with just 14 seconds remaining in the opening frame when Kate Ball (5) took a beautiful pass from Sophie Lalor on a 2-1.
The second period didn't result in any goals, but Huskie keeper Camryn Drever needed to stand tall as she faced a barrage of Spartan shots in goal.  The Spartans outshot the Huskies 10-5 in that second frame.
Just under 5 minutes into the third period Mallory Dyer (6) put the Huskies up 2-1 with a power play goal on a nifty backhand shot.
With six minutes left in the third period Camryn Drever stopped a clear breakaway to preserve the 2-1 Huskies lead, and eventually the win.

QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Peter Hay
"Our first period was one of our best of the season. Our entire defensive core was outstanding with one of their best games of the year. We had plenty of chances to win with forwards attacking hard. Also, we got great goaltending but a couple of team mistakes gave them two chances and they buried two goals. When Saskatchewan gets two goals it's very hard to win when they have Drever in net as their MVP. You almost need a perfect game to beat them. We were close. As a coach, I am proud of them as there is very little more I could ask of them. We will keep our head high and walk with confidence and hopefully tomorrow we can find a way to beat their goalie and win and leave the arctic -30 Saskatoon with a series split."

NOTABLE

• Final shots on goal were 26-25 in favor of the Spartans.
• The Huskies were 1/4 on the power-play, while the Spartans were 0/1.
• Tonight's attendance at Merlis Belsher Place was 507.
• Last week the Spartans lost two to Alberta, 3-2 on Friday night and 5-1 on Saturday night in Langley, B.C.
• Last week the Huskies swept the Regina Cougars in a home-and-home series, winning 3-0 at home on Friday night and 2-1 in Regina on Saturday night.
• The Spartans are 3-6 lifetime against the Huskies.
• In their last meeting on October 27-28, the Spartans won 4-1 on Friday and lost 4-2 on Saturday to the Huskies at home in Langley, B.C.

UP NEXT
The Huskie will return to home ice tomorrow, Saturday, January 13th at 5:00 PM versus these same TWU Spartans at Merlis Belsher Place. The game 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.
 
-TW-