So far, it’s been a very good season for the Trinity Western’s men’s hockey team.
The Spartans earned their program-record fifth straight win to open the season, beating Simon Fraser 3-0 Friday (Nov. 9) at the Langley Events Centre.
The Spartans scored three third period goals to break a scoreless deadlock through 40 minutes and improve to 5-0 on the year. The loss drops SFU to 5-3.
Logan Casavant opened the scoring when he pounced on rebound in the slot and beat SFU goalie Michael Lenko at 4:28 of the third period.
Just over a minute later, TWU capitalized on a power play opportunity, with Evan Last scoring his fourth goal of the season with a wicked wrister from atop the circles that went bar down past Lenko. The second assist went to Florian Niedermaier, who was playing in his 100th game in the BCIHL.
Sealing the deal was Elijah Vilio, an Aldergrove native, with the TWU defenceman scoring his first goal of the year with 8:44 remaining in the contest.
Spartans goalie Lucas Mills made 32 saves to earn his first shutout of the season.
TWU’s penalty-killing unit was the star of the night, as the Spartans, who were coming off a bye week, killed all eight Clan power plays.
TWU Head Coach Barret Kropf said the first 20 minutes of the game were “awful” but things improved.
“We really had to get focused and get some discipline back into the game – both in terms of taking dumb penalties and playing selfish hockey,” the coach said.
“Once we got that nailed down, I thought we had one of our strongest periods of the year in the third period. If you’re giving a grade on the game, it’s probably a B+.
Through 100 games, Niedermaier has 35 goals and 22 assists. He is the third Spartan to join the 100-game club, coming alongside Trevor Beaupre, who finished with 109 games played, and Cody Stephenson, who played 105 games.
The Spartans will put their winning streak on the line Saturday when they travel to play Selkirk Nov. 16 and 17. Both games start at 7 p.m
READ MORE: Heartbreak in 2017 turns to jubilation in 2018 for TWU hockey
