LANGLEY, British Columbia – The Trinity Western Spartans played even with the Alberta Golden Bears for much of Friday night's game, but a late power-play goal and an empty net goal proved to be the difference as the Spartans fell 4-2 to the Bears at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. The loss drops the Spartans to 0-8-0-1, while the Golden Bears went 3-for-6 on the power play to improve to 6-3-1-0.
Scoring for the Spartans were third-year forward Mikhailo Simchuk (Kyiv) with his fifth of the season and second-year forward
Artem Hrabovetskyi (Kyiv) with his second of the season.
Scoring for the Bears were Adam Hall with his fifth of the season, Mason Ward with his third of the season, Alex Thacker with his fourth of the season, and Owen Pederson with his third of the season.
Trinity Western's fourth-year goalie
Raphael Audet (Rimouski, QC) made 42 saves in the Spartans' loss. Alberta's Ethan Kruger made 23 saves in the Bears' win.
UP NEXT
The Spartans will look for the weekend split tomorrow at 7:15 p.m. (PT) at the George Preston Recreation Centre in Langley, B.C. Catch the game live on Canada West TV.
QUOTABLE
Ben Walter, TWU Head Coach
"I was really impressed with our effort tonight. We showed a lot of heart and played to our potential for a lot of the game. Our discipline needs to get better though. We can't take as many penalties as we did and expect to win games against good teams.
With that being said, our penalty kill did a fantastic job tonight and put us in a position to have a chance to win the game.
Lleyton Shearon (second-year, forward, Langley, B.C.) and
Aiden Knutson (first-year, forward, Red Deer, Alta.) were fantastic, along with the rest of our PK players. We will look to bring the same heart and effort tomorrow night.
AS IT HAPPENED
The Golden Bears' Hall scored the lone goal of the opening period on the power play at 16:23 to lead 1-0 after 20 minutes. TWU's Simchuk tied the game at 5:51 of the second period, but with one second remaining in the period, Alberta's Ward gave the lead, 2-1, back to the Bears at the end of 40 minutes.
The Spartans got their lone power play goal in at 12:46 of the third period when Hrabovetskyi tied the game at 2-2. Unfortunately for the Spartans, the Golden Bears took advantage of another power play to take the lead, 3-2, with 2:55 remaining in the game. Alberta's Pederson made the final 4-2 with an empty net goal at 19:44.
NOTABLE
- The Golden Bears outshot the Spartans 46-25.
- TWU was 1-2 on the power play, while Alberta finished 3-6.
- TWU is currently 1-13 lifetime against Alberta.
- Last week, the Spartans lost 5-2 and 5-1 to the MacEwan Griffins on the road in Edmonton, Alta.
- Last week the Bears split with the Calgary Dinos in a home-and-home series, winning 6-2 in Edmonton, and losing 5-1 in Calgary, Alta.
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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