LANGLEY, British Columbia – Trinity Western Spartans third-year goalie Kate Fawcett (Tottenham, Ont.) made 29 saves and recorded an assist to lead the Spartans to a 2-0 victory over the Regina Cougars Friday afternoon and the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. The win improves the Spartans to 7-18-1, while the loss drops the Cougars to 6-17-2.
 
The assist by Fawcett was the first time in TWU history that a goalie has recorded a point in a Canada West women's hockey game.
 
Regina's Arden Kliewer made 32 saves in the loss.
 
AS IT HAPPENED
The Spartans third-year forward Chloe Reid (Leduc, Alta.) opened the scoring at 6:05 of the opening period. TWU third-year forward Kyra McDonald stole the puck along the centre ice boards, where Reid picked up the puck and went in on the Regina net. Reid then beat the Kliemer to the glove side to put TWU up 1-0.
 
TWU third-year forward Olivia Leier (Regina, Sask.) got the record-breaking goal for the Spartans at 10:21 of the opening period. With Regina on the power play, TWU's Fawcett made the save which Leier picked up and broke out of the Spartans end with rookie blue-liner Presleigh Giesbrecht (Gretna, Man.) for a two-on-one break. Leier and Giesbrecht went back and forth before Leier put the Spartans up 2-0 with 9:39 remaining in the period.  With the goal, TWU' Fawcett became the first Spartan goal to record a point in Canada West action. The Spartans finished the period outshooting the Cougars 13-7.
 
Neither team could find the back of the net in the second period in which TWU and Regina each had eight shots on net.
 
The Cougars created more opportunities in the final period and pulled Kliewer with over two minutes remaining, but were unable to get a puck past Fawcett.
 
Regina's best chance came at 5:34 of the third period. With the Spartans on the power play, Makena Kushniruk broke out the Cougars' end for a breakaway chance on TWU's Fawcett. Kushniruk went low to the stick side but was unable to beat Fawcett.
 
The Cougars finished the period outshooting the Spartans 14-13.
 
QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Peter Hay
"A great relief as a team to get the big win today. It's been a long time coming. We haven't got the results we deserved. Today we got the result and it was a lot of fun to see everyone excited and playing together. We went very aggressive and we didn't stop. We played a great game. Getting the first goal was huge. Fawcett getting a shutout was a great way to finalize it all. Proud of the team and so it keeps our hope alive to get that last playoff spot. Tomorrow is another chance to keep it going."
 
NOTABLE

• The Spartans outshot the Cougars 34-29.
• TWU finished 0-2 on the power play with a short-handed goal, while Regina finished 0-3 on the power play.
• Only two other goalies have recorded assists this season: Alberta's Halle Oswald, and Calgary's Gabriella Durante.
• With three games remaining, TWU now has 15 points in the standings and trails sixth place Manitoba by four points for the final Canada West play-off spot.
• Last week the Spartans lost twice to the Manitoba Bisons. Losing 2-1, and 1-0 in Winnipeg, Man.
• Last week the Cougars split with the MacEwan Griffins winning 3-0 and losing 1-0 at home in Regina, Sask.
• The Spartans are 6-1 lifetime against the Cougars.
• In their last series with Regina on October 13 and 14, the Spartans defeated the Cougars 2-1, and 5-2 on the road in Regina, Sask.
• TWU's last loss to Regina, 2-1, was November 19, 2021, in Regina, Sask.
• The Spartans are currently on a six-game winning streak against the Cougars.

 
UP NEXT
The Spartans and the Cougars will go at it again tomorrow at 1 p.m. (PT) at the Langley Events Centre. The game 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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