Brown, de Waal notch hat tricks as Spartans cruise to lopsided win over VIU

Trinity Western University’s Dirk de Waal and Brayden Brown each potted a hat-trick to lead the Spartans to an 11-2 win over Vancouver Island University on Saturday evening at the Langley Events Centre.

After TWU posted a 2-1 lead through 20 minutes, the home side exploded for six goals in the middle frame to spark an 11-goal barrage that sent the Spartans (9-3) to their fourth straight win.

“We didn’t want to waste last weekend," says TWU head coach Barret Kropf. "We had two big wins last weekend and we didn’t want to have a let up in the last two weekends. I thought this past week was one of our better weeks of practice. It was good to see that the guys stayed dialed in all week and I think the momentum they gained in practice carried over to the game."

A day after beating Simon Fraser, the Mariners (5-6) suffered their most lopsided loss of the season. Along with the six goals Brown and de Waal accounted for, TWU’s Jarrett Fontaine and Brandon Potomak each had two goals, while Kade Vilio had one. Stefan Gonzales, Evan Last and Jordan Rendle finished with three assists each, while Brown also added an assist for a team-high four-point night.

The Spartans are now 3-1 against VIU this year. The Mariners Ryan Coghlan and Joshua Cook scored for VIU. T

he Spartans outshot the Mariners 60-19. TWU goalie Silas Matthys  earned the win, stopping 17 of the 19 shots he faced. Carson Schamerhorn started the contest and allowed seven goals on 43 shots before he was replaced by Brett Clark with three minutes left in the second period. Clark gave up four goals on 17 shots.

Fontaine opened the scoring 54 seconds into the game, which marked a sign of things to come. Coghlan equalised at 9:43 of the first period, but 18 seconds later Vilio gave TWU the lead for good. Potomak kick started the offensive avalanche in the second period with a goal at 1:15.

Then, it was de Waal scoring shorthanded for his first of three goals in the period. Brown tallied with 6:27 to play in the second before de Waal scored again at 15:39. Fontaine tallied on the power play with three minute to play. De Waal scored his second shorthanded goal of the game with nine seconds left in the period.

Potomak once again scored early in the final frame, burying his chance at 1:19 of the third period. Cook got one back for VIU before Brown scored twice late to round out the scoring.

“VIU was coming off a hard battle with SFU last night, so the combination of us on an up-tick and maybe them being out of a gas a bit makes a huge difference," says Kropf. "I think overall, it was a good game for the guys. We stayed disciplined and we kept moving the pucks and we kept our speed up. We checked off all the boxes.”

Brown now has six goals and three assists in his last three games. Prior to that, he had four goals and four assists in his previous nine outings.

TWU has won six of its last seven games and the Spartans have outscored their opposition 59-27, equaling Selkirk for a league-best +32 goal differential.

The Spartans will finish their fall semester with Dec. 2 when they travel to play Simon Fraser.