CALGARY, Alberta – The Trinity Western Spartans fell behind early and were unable to recover as the Calgary Dinos defeated the Spartans 6-3 Friday night at Father David Bauer Arena in Calgary, Alberta. The loss keeps the Spartans winless on the season at 0-5, while the win improves the Dinos to 3-3-1.
 
Scoring for the Spartans were second-year forward Christian Lowe (Port Moody, B.C.), fourth-year defence Kade McMillen (Carievale, Sask.), and fourth-year forward Aidan Steinke (St. Albert, Alta.). Scoring for the Dinos was Jake Poole with the hat-trick, Dylan Sydor, Colson Gengenbach, and Logan Hauer.
 
Second-year goalie Leon Sommer made 41 saves in the Spartans loss, while Calgary's Carl Tetachuk made 17 saves in the Dinos win.
 
UP NEXT
The weekend series will wrap up Saturday evening at Father David Bauer Arena with a 6 p.m. (MT) puck drop. The game can be seen live on Canada West TV.
 
QUOTABLE
TWU head coach Ben Walter
"We didn't have the start that we wanted, and Calgary jumped on us in the first period.  We didn't defend well and allowed the Dinos to get to the inside way too often." 
 
"I liked our second and third periods much more and we played with a lot more energy and speed which was positive.  We need to start better tomorrow and show more consistency in our game for 60 minutes."
 
"Luke Spadafora played a strong game for us tonight and Aiden Steinke was a plus as well, chipping in with a goal and being solid on the penalty kill."
 
AS IT HAPPENED
The game started with a scramble in front of the Spartans net that allowed the Dinos to put one up with what would be Poole's first of the night just two minutes into the first period. Following closely behind, McAuley, Man., native netted his second goal on a loose puck behind Spartans goaltender Leon Sommer, quickly putting the Dinos up 2-0 at the five-minute mark.
 
Not long after, the Dinos were sent on a double minor penalty kill, where Christian Lowe took advantage of the power play and got the Spartans on the board to draw things back to 2-1 with just 8:08 gone by.
 
After some back-and-forth play, it was the Dinos who again scored two quick goals – this time 20 seconds apart – to bust this one open. Poole completed his hat trick at the 17:44 mark, with rookie Dylan Sydor potting his second university goal just 20 seconds later to make it 4-1 Calgary before the first intermission.
 
The second period was eventful for the TWU netminder, as the Dinos outshot the Spartans 14-4 in the frame, but Sommer managed to keep the Dinos stuck at their 4-1 lead in the 20 minutes.
 
In the third, it was another quick start for the Dinos when leading goalscorer Colson Gengenbach gained his sixth of the season at the 2:55 mark – an impressive shorthanded tally on a two on one rush.
 
A Dinos penalty put the Spartans on yet another powerplay, where they optimized their offense as Kade McMillen scored their second goal of the game, shortening the Dinos to a 5-2 lead.
 
In the 53rd minute, the Dinos extended their lead with a goal from Logan Hauer, who went unassisted after a quick deke around Spartans' defense, before TWU retaliated, gaining the last goal of the game less than two minutes later thanks to Aidan Steinke at 15:31, finalizing the 6-3 win for the Dinos.
 
NOTABLE

• The Dinos outshot the Spartans 47-20
• TWU finished with 1-6 on the power play, while Calgary finished 0-3.
• The Spartans are currently 0-9 lifetime against the Dinos.

 
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.
 
About Trinity Western University
Recognized for quality, TWU has received seven consecutive A+ rankings for Quality of Teaching and Learning, holds three Canada Research Chairs, and wins national championships in U SPORTS. More importantly, lives are changed at TWU through its whole-person, Christ-centred approach to education. With a wide array of undergraduate, graduate, and adult degree-completion programs, TWU equips leaders of character and competence to make a positive impact in the lives of others.
 
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