EDMONTON, Alberta – The Trinity Western Spartans put in a solid effort but ended the night on the wrong end of a 3-2 overtime decision to the No. 6 Alberta Pandas Friday night at the Clare Drake Arena in Edmonton, Alta. The overtime loss moves the Spartans to 8-17-2, while the Pandas improve to 20-3-3.
 
Fifth-year Katherine Chadwick (Kanata, Ont.), and third-year forward Kate Klassen (Chilliwack, B.C.) scored the goals for the Spartans, while Jadynn Morden, Abby Soyko, and Izzy Lajoie scored for the Pandas.
 
TWU third-year goalie Kate Fawcett (Tottenham, Ont.) made 28 saves, while Albeta's Misty Rey made 25 saves.
 
AS IT HAPPENED
Fourth-year Alberta Captain Izzy Lajoie scored 2:54 into overtime to secure the win for the Pandas.
 
TWU outshot the Pandas 13-3 in the opening frame, leaving the home crowd in shock. Chadwick opened the scoring with her third of the season just under three minutes into the contest.
 
Klassen doubled the lead midway through the second, beating Rey with a beautiful move in tight.
 
The Pandas tied the game late in the second, with Morden and Soyko scoring two minutes apart.
 
The teams added six shots each, but were unable to add a game-winner in regulation. The Pandas outshot TWU 4-2 in overtime, capped off by Lajoie's winner.
 
QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Peter Hay
"We played outstanding hockey as a team and every forward line and defence pairing was going and doing the simple little things well. We put a lot of pressure on them in the first period going up 2-0 and outshooting them 13-3 in shots. However, in the second they got two power-play goals to tie it up leading to an exciting third. We lost in OT and it stings because we deserved the win with how we played. We can learn a lot from this game but the biggest thing is that when we play like this we can compete with any team in Canada. Alberta is a very good team and we had every reason to win. Hopefully, we can stay out of the box tomorrow and play the same way and get a win to finish the season."
 
NOTABLE

• The Pandas outshot the Spartans 31-27.
• TWU finished 0-1 on the power play, while Alberta finished 2-5 on the power play.
• Last Friday and Saturday the Spartans swept the Regina Cougars at home in Langley, B.C., winning 2-0 and 5-0.
• Last week the Pandas swept the UBC Thunderbirds 2-1 and 3-1 on the road in Vancouver, B.C.
• The Spartans are 2-7 lifetime against the Pandas.
• In their last series with Alberta on January 5 and 6, the Spartans lost to the Pandas 3-2 and 5-1 at home in Langley, B.C.

 
UP NEXT
The Spartans and the Pandas will finish conference play tomorrow at 2 p.m. (MT) at the Clare Drake Arena. The game is the last of the year for the Spartans 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.
 
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