SASKATOON, Saskatchewan – The Trinity Western Spartans gave up three straight goals to fall behind early before finishing with a 3-2 loss to the No. 10 Huskies Saturday night at the Merlis Belsher Place in Saskatoon, Sask. The one-goal loss drops the Spartans to 6-13-1, while the win moves the Huskies to 14-4-2.
 
Second-year blue-liner Ella Boon (Vanderhoof, B.C.) and second-year forward Kara Yackel (St. Paul, Man.), on the power play, were the goal scorers for the Spartans. While Saskatchewan responded with power-play goals from Kara Kondrat and Mallory Dyer and a regular strength goal from Jasper Desmarais.

Camryn Drever got the start in net for the Huskies, while the Spartans countered with third-year Kate Fawcett (Tottenham, Ont.).  Fawcett was replaced by third-year Mabel Maltais (Edmonton, Alta.) just 5:27 into the opening frame after giving up two goals on three Huskie shots.  Drever stopped 29/31 shots, while Maltais turned away 20/21 Huskie shots on net.
 
AS IT HAPPENED
The Huskies opened the scoring 3:32 into the opening frame when Kara Kondrat (4) pounced on a juicy rebound and buried it giving the Huskies the 1-0 lead.

Moments later, at the 5:27 mark, the Huskies capitalized when Mallory Dyer (7) put the home team up 2-0 with her 7th goal of the campaign while on the power-play.

That Huskie goal chased Spartans goalkeeper Kate Fawcett from the game, enter Mabel Maltais.

Jasper Desmarais (2) extended the Huskies' lead to 3-0 with a beauty as she streaked toward the net and potted her second of the season.
At 2:50 of the second period, the Spartans' Ella Boon (2) got TWU a little closer when she squeezed one by Camryn Drever and the post to make it a 3-1 Huskies game.

On the power-play, the TWU Spartans inched closer at the 15:18 mark of the second period when Kara Yackel (4) took a rebound and drilled it into the net to make it 3-2 Huskies.  The third periods was scoreless, that goal was as close as the Spartans would get, dropping a 3-2 decision to the Huskies
QUOTABLE

TWU Head Coach Peter Hay
Proud is all I can say. We got down 3-0 quick with a barrage of penalties. We regrouped after the first and showed our character and passion and came out with an energy I haven't seen all year. The dressing room was rocking and loud and it translated to the ice. We got two goals and got back in the game. A total team effort but unfortunately we couldn't find that third goal even know we had prime chances and plenty of opportunity. This wasn't a game victory but it was definitely a moral victory that hopefully translates into next weekend when we place the top team in the league UBC in a home and home. We are still tied with Manitoba for the last and final playoff spot with the same amount of games played so the final 4 weekends of the season are setting up for an unreal finish."

NOTABLE

• Final shots on goal were 31-24 in favor of the Spartans.
• The Huskies were 2/7 on the power-play, while the Spartans were 1/4.
• Tonight's attendance at Merlis Belsher Place was 385.
• The Spartans lost 2-1 in Friday night's contest
• The Spartans are 3-7 lifetime against the Huskies.

UP NEXT
The Spartans will now return to the Lower-mainland for a home-and-home series with the UBC Thunderbirds. TWU will be in Vancouver for a 4 p.m. game on January 19, before returning home to Langley, B.C. for a 5 p.m. game on January 20 at the Langley Events Centre. The games 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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