Weekend Preview: Spartans set to honour graduating players in home finale

First-place Trinity Western University will host the University of Victoria on Friday night at the Langley Events Centre in the Spartans' last regular season game of the 2017/18 campaign.

On Friday, TWU will honour their graduating seniors in a pregame ceremony. That group includes forward Dirk de Waal, defencemen Stefan Gonzales and Karsten Seidel, and netminder Silas Matthys.

The Spartans (19-4-0-1) clinched first place in the BCIHL standings after earning a 2-0 win over Victoria last Friday at the Ian Stewart Complex. TWU’s Gary Mahesh scored his first goal as a Spartan against the Vikes. The following night, TWU had its first overtime loss of their season against the VIU Mariners.

Matthys recorded his first shutout of the season Friday against the Vikes. The victory was Matthys' 50th career win as a Spartan, while the shutout put him in a tie with teammate Lucas Mills for second all-time in the BCIHL with four. The BCIHL career record for shutouts is five held by former SFU netminder Andrew Parent.

TWU’s Evan Last is third in the league in points with 11 goals and 20 assists. Vikes forward Jack Palmer is tied with TWU’s Dustin Deugau for top spot in the league with 21 assists.

Victoria has yet to beat TWU this season with the Spartans outscoring the Vikes 25-8 in their four wins. The Vikes, who captured the 2018 BCIHL Championship with a dramatic win in Langley, are slated to miss out on the postseason for the first time since 2014.

Friday's game is scheduled for a 7:00 PM puck drop and will be broadcast live on Hockey TV.