CALGARY, Alberta – The Trinity Western Spartans opened the Canada West season with a 2-0 loss to the Mount Royal Cougars Friday night at Flames Community Arena in Calgary, Alta. The loss puts the Spartans at 0-1, while the win puts the Cougars at 1-0.
 
Scoring the goals for the Cougars were Athena Hauck and Jerzey Watteyne.
 
TWU fourth-year goalie Kate Fawcett (Tottehham, Ont.) made 33 saves in the Spartan loss, while MRU's Kaitlyn Ross made 25 saves to earn shutout win.
 
UP NEXT
The Spartans will finish the weekend series against the Mount Royal Cougars Saturday night at Flames Community Arena. The game is set for a 5 p.m. (MT) puck-drop and can be seen live on Canada West TV.
 
QUOTABLE
Trinity Western Head Coach Peter Hay
"Kate Fawcett stood on her head in the first period against 13 shots before we changed some team structures and were able to get back in the game outshooting MRU in the second. Unfortunately, MRU's first period goal was enough as we couldn't find the back of the net with all the chances we created. This group took a positive step as a team regardless of the 2-0 loss. We showed some great coach-ability mid game and never stopped working. We made it hard for MRU, but we are going to need to score to have a chance to win any games this year. Perhaps that will be tomorrow as we come more ready to beat a very strong MRU. As a young team with lots of new players the team is coming together nicely, and we are dialed in to the process and not worrying about the outcome too much and I believe the outcome will eventually take care of itself."
 
AS IT HAPPENED
The Spartans were outshot 11-2 in the opening period with Hauck scoring at 10:41 of the period.
 
Neither team found the back of the net in the second period with the Cougars outshooting the Spartans 17-13.
 
The Cougars sealed the game when Watteyne scored at 18:12 of the final period. TWU outshot MRU 10-7 in the final frame.
 
NOTABLE

• The Cougars outshot the Spartans 37-25 on the night.
• TWU was 0-4 on the power play, while MRU was 0-3.
• The Cougars were ranked No. 3 in the Canada West preseason coaches' poll, while the Spartans were ranked No. 8.
• The Spartans finished last year with a record of 8-18-2, while the Cougars finished at 20-7-2.

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-