LANGLEY, British Columbia – Manitoba's Dylan Thiessen scored twice in the third period as the Manitoba Bisons defeated the Trinity Western Spartans 3-2 Saturday afternoon at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. The loss drops the Spartans to 2-19-5 in Canada West, while the Bisons improve to 4-19-5.
 
TWU second-year goalie Raphael Audet (Rimouski, Que.) made 26 saves in the loss, while Manitoba's Kolby Thornton made 34 saves to record the win.
 
TWU had goals from second-year forward Mitchell Joss (Winnipeg, Man.) and fourth-year forward Tanner Hopps (North Delta, B.C). Also scoring for the Bisons was Jonny Hooker.
 
AS IT HAPPENED
The Spartans opened the scoring at 17:23 of the opening period off of a three-on-one break. TWU's Joss, second-year forward Mikol Sartor (Winnipeg, Man.), and first-year defenceman Skyler Cameron (Nanaimo, B.C.) broke into the offensive end where a cross-ice pass from Cameron to Joss allowed Joss to find the open net.
 
Manitoba tied the game up at 3:30 of the second period. The Bisons' Jonny Hooker found space between the circles and was able to beat Audet to tie the game at 1-1.
 
TWU's Hopps regained the lead for the Spartans when he converted a beautiful saucer pass from fourth-year forward Daine Dubois (Williams Lake, B.C.) after TWU third-year forward Jeremy Klessens (Red Deer, Alta.) created a turnover in the Manitoba corner. Dubois picked up the puck and sent the puck in the air to the far side of the net where Joss one-timed the pass into the back of the Bisons net to put TWU up 2-1 at 9:23 of the second period.
 
Manitoba's Thiessen tied the game up when he was able to find the back of the TWU net at 3:19 of the third period with a power play goal.
 
Almost 10 minutes later Thiessen was on the scoreboard again, when he found open space beside the TWU net. From behind the TWU net Colton Veloso found Thiessen, who easily converted the pass to put the Bisons up 3-2 with 6:50 remaining in the game.
 
The Spartans pulled Audet in the final minute but were unable to get the equalizer.

QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Ben Walter
"Definitely disappointing to be up 2-1 going into the third period and then give it away like we did.  We need to be able to maintain our style of play even when the game gets tight and we weren't able to do that today." 
 
"We will get back to work on Monday and prepare for Regina next weekend."
 
NOTABLE

• The Spartans outshot the Bisons 36-29.
• TWU finished the night going 0/4 on the power play, while Manitoba finished at 1/3.
• On Friday the Spartans lost 3-1 to the Bisons.
• The Spartans are 4-6 lifetime against the Bisons.
• In their last series with Manitoba on November 2 and 3, the Spartans defeated the Bisons 3-2, and 5-2 on the road in Winnipeg, Man.

 
UP NEXT
The Spartans will now head out on the road for two games against the Regina Cougars on February 2 and February 3 in Regina, Sask. Both games are scheduled for 7 p.m. (CT) and 5 p.m. (CT) puck drops 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.
 
-TW-