One game after climbing to first place in the BC Intercollegiate Hockey League standings, the Trinity Western Spartans saw their three-game win streak come to an end as they fell into a tie for top spot.
The Spartans posted a convincing 6-0 win over the Eastern Washington Eagles on Thursday before losing 4-1 to the Selkirk Saints the following night. TWU is now 8-3-0-0 on the season.
“The first five minutes, we had some good pace but we didn’t bury our opportunities,” said Spartans coach Barret Kropf.
“Then they got one and then a second one and we didn’t want to compete after that. There’s a little bit of concern there because in the past we’ve responded quickly and we didn’t tonight. We carried too many selfish habits over from yesterday’s game and thought it would work.
By the time we started to figure the game out, we were down. Our power play wasn’t working and we had to juggle a few things and the next thing you know you lose 4-1.”
Aaron Gruenhage got TWU on the board but the goal came with just 21 seconds remaining.
Silas Matthys made 33 saves in the loss. He stopped 25 the game before for the shutout.
TWU scored four times in the first period to put the game out of reach early.
“The first twenty minutes the guys came out and skated hard and got out to a quick start. We have had that now for about four games where we have gotten on the board first and continued to roll. So that was good to see,” Kropf said.
“We started to see some bad habits creep in in the second and third periods. It is tough as there wasn’t a lot of emotion or intensity in the game. Overall it was a game that we did what we had to do to get the win.”
The Spartans Florian Niedermaier led TWU in scoring with two goals, while Dawson Sawatzky and Kaleb Denham had a goal and an assist apiece. Evan Last led the point parade with three assists on the night.
The Spartans are back in action this weekend against the same two opponents, only this time in the other team’s rink.