A last-minute goal was the difference as Trinity Western University fell 3-2 to Vancouver Island University on the road Saturday evening at the Nanaimo Ice Centre.

Goaltender Lucas Mills made 37 saves in the loss for TWU (17-2-0-1), while Evan Last and Brayden Brown picked up goals for the Spartans. Adam Morton, Seth Schmidt and Alex Hanson had singles for Vancouver Island (10-7-0-2), while Mariners goaltender Jeremy Balyk made 33 saves for his ninth win of the season.

"Our guys faced an unbelievable amount of adversity tonight, dealing with a slim lineup early on because of injuries," says TWU head coach Barret Kropf. "We battled hard with what he had in the lineup and that’s something to be proud of. We’ll regroup, come back healed up, and be ready to battle again tomorrow."

Less than 10 seconds after Spartans defenceman Dustin Deugau hit the post of a wrist shot, he connected with Last on a cross ice-pass to bury the Spartans opening goal on a one-timer and make it 1-0 TWU with 5:56 left in the first period.

The second period saw no scoring, despite the Mariners peppering Mills with 19 shots. TWU was also unable to beat Mariners goaltender Balyk in the frame, putting up 17 shots on net.

VIU finally beat Mills early in the third period, as Morton scored on a one-timer in the slot just 22 seconds into the period to tie the game up at 1-1. Another Mariners blueliner then gave the home side the lead, as Schmidt scored at 11:50 on the power play to make it 2-1.

Just over a minute later TWU responded, with Brown tipping a Travis Verveda shot just a foot from the goaltender Balyk to tie the game back up at 2-2. But with just 28 seconds left, Hanson buried a Seth Schmidt pass to lift the Mariners to victory.

TWU went 0 for 2 on the powerplay, while the Mariners were 1 for 7 (14.3%).

"Vancouver Island is a hungry hockey team," says Kropf. "They’re working hard to keep their home playoff hopes alive and they played a hard game tonight."

It was the Mariners first win over the Spartans since Feb. 24, 2018 in Nanaimo (6-5).

Evan Last’s goal was his 12th of the season and 40th of his career. He sits just one point back of a three-way tie for 7th all-time in BCIHL career scoring (118 points).

With four games left in the season, TWU is four wins back of tying the program record of 21 wins set in 2017-18. The Spartans continue their road swing with a rematch against the Mariners on Sunday at the Nanaimo Ice Centre.