Spartans clinch regular season title with shutout win at UVic

Trinity Western University clinched first place in the B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League standings on Friday night after earning a 2-0 win over the University of Victoria at the Ian Stewart Complex.  

Gary Mahesh and Kade Vilio scored for the Spartans and fifth-year goalie Silas Matthys recorded his first shutout of the season to help TWU (19-4-0-0) secure top spot in the regular season standings. Matthys made 26 saves in the win, as TWU improved on its already best-ever regular season record.

"It was a well-played game," says TWU head coach Barret Kropf. "We outshot them but they continue to battle hard. They’re a team that just works hard and blocks lots of shots, so our guys needed to do all the little things to find success on the scoreboard. We have a few injuries, so we’ve got a bit of a different lineup, but I thought the guys did really well in adapting to that."

Mahesh scored his first goal as a Spartan at 6:40 of the first period, with Dirk de Waal and Florian Niedermaier grabbing assists. Midway through the second period, Vilio converted a cross-crease pass from Evan Last to add insurance and ultimately seal the win.  

TWU outshot the Vikes 46-26 and improved their record to 14-1 in their last 15 outings. The Spartans were 0/3 on the power play, while Victoria was 0/7.

"Jarrett (Fontaine) had a great game at both ends of the ice. He was relentless on the backcheck and forecheck and created scoring opportunities. It’s fun to watch when you have players playing at that level."  

NEXT UP: The Spartans travel to Nanaimo, B.C. to play Vancouver Island University on Saturday at 8:00 PM.