Trinity Western’s PJ Buys collected his second consecutive four-point night, scoring once and assisting on three others, as the Spartans first-year forward led TWU to a 5-2 win over Eastern Washington on Dec. 5 at the Langley Events Centre.
Playing in their final game before the Christmas break, the Spartans (9-2-0-2) came out with an offensive flurry, scoring three goals in the first period and then holding on for the three-goal victory.
“I think our guys came out and probably played one of the best 20 minutes of the season,” said Spartans coach Barret Kropf.
“In the second 20, we started doing things that aren’t part of our DNA in terms of trying to do too many fancy plays and not being the first to the puck.
“So we had to hit the reset button and come out with a stronger effort in the third. We had 40 minutes that were great and 20 minutes that we can’t let happen again.”
The win caps off the first place Spartans most dominant fall semester in program history, including a record nine wins before the break. Last year, TWU won what was a team record five games before Christmas. For the Eagles, the loss drops them to 4-9-0-0 and they have now lost three in a row to the Spartans.
“It’s nice to go into the break with that kind of a record but we know having a month off for Christmas is going to force all of us across the league to start over and go at it again in the second half,” Kropf said.
“You don’t win championships in November or December. We have a lot of work yet to do. I’m thrilled with what we’ve accomplished, but we’re not content.”
Offensively for the Spartans, Micah Cockrill and Cody Fidgett each had a goal and an assist while JP Villeneuve collected two assists. Florian Niedermaier and Brett Wur rounded out the scoring with one goal each.
Buys four-point night gives him six goals and 14 assists on the season. And on Tuesday (Dec. 9), he was named the league’s player of the week.
Nick Redding and Ricky Doubrava each scored for EWU while Paxton Bell and Beau Walker assisted on both goals.
In what was a feisty night, especially in the latter half, the teams combined for 168 penalty minutes with EWU being assessed 111 minutes and TWU being called for 57 minutes.
Spartans goalie Aaron Oakley earned his first win with TWU after a 38-save performance while the Eagles Tyler O’Donnell made 33 saves in a losing effort.
The Spartans are now off until 2015. They will open on the road the second half of their schedule against Selkirk Jan. 9-10. TWU is back at home Jan. 15 when it hosts Simon Fraser at 7 p.m.
