CALGARY, Alberta – The Trinity Western Spartans dropped a 4-3 decision on the road to the No. 8 Mount Royal Cougars Friday night at the Flames Community Centre in Calgary, Alta. The loss drops the Spartans to 2-10-1, while the Cougars improve to 10-4.
 
Fifth-year forward Daine DuBois (Williams Lake, B.C.), first-year forward Matteo Lamoureux (Montreal, Que.), and second-year forward Christian Lowe (Port Moody, B.C.) scored for the Spartans, while Zafir Rawji with two goals, Justin Lies, and Clay Hanus were the goal scorers for the Cougars.
 
Second-year goalie Leon Sommer (Linz, Aust.) made 40 saves in the Spartans loss, while Shane Farkas made 19 saves in the Cougars win.
 
UP NEXT
The Spartans and Cougars will finish the two-game weekend series tomorrow at 5 p.m. (MT) at the Flames Community Centre in Calgary, Alta. The game can be seen live on Canada West TV.
 
QUOTABLE
TWU head coach Ben Walter
"I really liked our compete level tonight and the fact that we kept pushing right to the end against a very strong MRU team.  We had good energy all game and played the way we wanted to play for the most part.  Leon Sommer had a great game in the net for us and gave us a chance to win.  I'm looking forward to seeing us build on this tomorrow night."
 
AS IT HAPPENED
The Cougars' Rawji opened the scoring quickly with the lone goal of the opening period at 1:21. MRU outshot TWU 13-9 in the first period.
 
Rawji got his second of the night at 7:36 of the second period. TWU's DuBois got the Spartans' first goal at 9:18 of the second period. Lies regained the two-goal lead for the Cougars at 16:41. TWU's Lamoureux made it a 3-2 game with his marker at 18:13. MRU had the edge again in shots at 18-7.
 
The Cougars Hanus got the eventual game-winner at 2:27 of the final period. TWU's Lowe got his seventh of the season at 7:31 to make it a 4-3 game. MRU outshot TWU 13-6 in the final period
 
NOTABLE 

• The Cougars outshot the Spartans 44-22
• TWU was 2-9 on the power play, while MRU was 0-2.
• Last weekend at home TWU lost to the MacEwan Griffins twice at the Aldergrove Community Centre, losing 8-5 on Friday, and 5-4 in overtime on Saturday.
• Last weekend the Mount Royal Cougars swept the Manitoba Bisons on the road in Winnipeg, Man. The Cougars won 4-3 on Friday night, and 4-1 on Saturday night at the Wayne Fleming Arena in Winnipeg, Man.
• TWU is currently 1-10 lifetime against the Cougars. Last season TWU lost their four games against Mount Royal.
• The Spartans' lone win against the Cougars was in 2022-23 when TWU won 4-3 in Calgary, Alta.
• The Spartans' lone win against the Cougars was in the 2023 Canada West play-offs. TWU lost the best of three series 2-1 to the eventual national champion Cougars in Calgary.

 
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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