EDMONTON – The Trinity Western Spartans fell 5-1 to the MacEwan Griffins in the weekend opener Friday night at the Downtown Community Arena in Edmonton, Alta. The loss drops the Spartans to 0-6-1-0 in Canada West play, while the Griffins improve to 3-3-1-0.
 
Scoring for the Spartans was fourth-year centre Jonathan Krahn (Chilliwack, B.C.)
Scoring for the Griffins were Dwayne Jean Jr., Brody Tallman, Sam Simard, Kadyn Chabot, and Ethan Sundar.
 
TWU fourth-year goalie Raphael Audet (Rimouski, QC) made 37 saves in the Spartans' loss. MacEwan's Eric Ward made 21 saves in the Griffins win.
 
UP NEXT
The Spartans will finish the double header tomorrow at 3 p.m. (MT) at the Downtown Community Arena in Edmonton, Alta. The game can be seen on Canada West TV.

AS IT HAPPENED
TWU's Krahn got the Spartans off to a good start when he opened the scoring on a feed from Connor Farren at 5:00 of the first period. Unfortunately for the Spartans that would be their lone goal of the evening.
 
Jean Jr. really got the offence rolling when he scored MacEwan's first of the contest with 3:44 remaining in the opening frame. He finished off a great back door pass from Liam Hughes on an odd-man rush.
 
Brody Tallman netted the game-winner before the first was out, taking Jean Jr.'s pass and wiring a wrister past TWU goalie Raphael Audet.
 
Simard got in on the action in the second period as he took a down low pass from Brett Bamber – who did a great job to keep a deflected pass in the zone – and deked around the goalie for a 3-1 lead.
 
Then Kadyn Chabot, again fed by Jean Jr., slotted a left side low shot five-hole for a 4-1 Griffins lead 4:58 into the third period.
 
Ethan Sundar capped the scoring on a two-man advantage with 44 seconds left as he put home Rhett Dekowny's gorgeous cross-crease pass from a tough angle. Jean Jr. picked up the second assist.
 
NOTABLE

• The Griffins outshot the Spartans  42-22.
• TWU was 0-2 on the power play, while MacEwan finished 1-3
• TWU is currently 2-9 lifetime against MacEwan.
• In their last conference meeting, the Spartans lost 5-4 in overtime, and 8-5 in Aldergrove, B.C last year.
• Last week the Spartans were 0-1-1-0 at home against the Saskatchewan Huskies, losing 5-4 in overtime and 7-0 in regulation.
• Last week the Griffins were 1-1 in a home-and-home series with the Mount Royal Cougars, winning 3-1 at home and losing 6-3 on the road.

 
About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 11 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, hockey and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes as in the NAIA in track and field and cross country and as an independent team in men's rugby and women's and men's disc golf. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 14 U SPORTS team championships and 33 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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