Spartans snap Selkirk's win streak, move closer to first place in BCIHL

Trinity Western University became the first team to knock off previously unbeaten Selkirk College, as the Spartans earned a 3-2 win over the Saints to snap the visitors 10-game winning streak on Friday evening at the Langley Events Centre.

The Spartans' Florian Niedermaier scored a shorthanded marker early in the second period to put TWU up 3-1 and that goal stood up as the game-winner. The win puts the Spartans (8-3) within just four points of the league-leading Saints (10-1) in the BCIHL standings.

“Whenever we play with our skill in terms of using our speed and putting pucks onto that speed lane, we’re pretty effective," says TWU head coach Barret Kropf. "We just need to work on burying those opportunities. Then we don’t have to scramble over the last two minutes and block shots and throw faces in front of pucks. We did what we had to do against a team that was on a 10-game winning streak."

Selkirk’s Grant Iles scored midway through the third period to make it a one-goal game, but the Spartans held off the Saints the rest of the way. Brayden Brown and Evan Last scored first period goals, sandwiched around an unassisted marker from the Saints' Dallas Calvin.

TWU goalie Silas Matthys made 31 saves to earn the win, while Brett Huber faced 44 shots in the Saints net, stopping 41.

Brown opened the scoring at 8:37 of the first period, when he crashed the net and jumped on a loose puck off the rush, whacking it past Huber. Calvin tied the game with 3:47 left in the opening stanza, scoring an unassisted power play goal. However, 29 seconds later, Last sniped a shot off the rush, beating Huber upstairs to put TWU ahead for good.

At 3:49 of the second period, Niedermaier finished off a nifty cross-crease pass from Kade Vilio off a two-on-two to put TWU up 3-1. Iles’ goal in the third period made for a frenetic finish, but the Spartans held on to end Selkirk’s unbeaten run.

“We’ve been saying for a while now that we need to slow the game down to speed it up," says Kropf. "I think you saw that tonight. Instead of just panicking and throwing the puck away under pressure, we just regrouped. Our puck possession tonight was off the charts.”

Brown, who is in his first year with TWU, had a five-point weekend, including three goals and two assists. He is tied with Last and Selkirk’s Derek McPhail for second in league scoring with 13 points. ·

TWU is now three wins clear of Simon Fraser (5-3), who the Spartans beat 4-3 on Thursday, for second place in the BCIHL standings. The Spartans lost to the Saints in their only previous meeting this year, falling 5-2 Nov. 10 in Castlegar, B.C.

The Spartans are back at the Langley Events Centre on Saturday, Nov. 25 when they host Vancouver Island University. Puck drop is at 7:00 PM.