Spartans comeback attempt halted in overtime loss to Portage College

Trinity Western University continued their 2019 preseason with a 3-2 road loss to the Portage College Voyageurs at the Castlegar Complex in the BCIHL-ACAC Showcase opener on Friday night.

Spartans defenceman Dustin Deugau and forward Juliun Uhryniuk both scored for TWU, while goaltender Alistair Duncan made 38 saves in the loss.

“It was one of those games where we had guys throwing up on the bench and a bunch of others in the stands with injuries," says TWU Head Coach Barrett Kropf. "A lot of young guys had opportunities to get into the lineup and get in some minutes, showing us what they can do. In that way today’s game was good, and I thought we controlled a lot of the play."

The Voyageurs struck first when a Shane Sherban shot beat Spartans goaltender Duncan at 3:15 of the first period. Portage then doubled their lead in the second period after Jesse Roach scored at 12:20 of the second period to make it 2-0.

Opening the third period down 2-0, TWU got its first of the game courtesy of Deugau at 2:23 of the final frame. Just five minutes later at 8:22 in the third, Uhryniuk scored to tie the game up.

After the remainder of the period went scoreless and the game went to overtime, it was Voyageurs winger Cole Keenleyside who snuck the game winner past Duncan just 45 seconds into the extra frame.

TWU finished the game with 35 shots on goal, compared to Portage’s 41.

"For the most part we’re a banged up unit right now," says Kropf. "Injuries are always going to happen, and there’s nothing you can do about them at this point of the season, so we’re going to take some precautions with some guys and make sure we’re healthy going into the season."

The Spartans open the regular season Oct. 12 at home against Vancouver Island University. TWU is winless so far this preseason, coming off a pair of 5-3 losses to UBC (Sept. 13) and SFU (Sept. 21).  They continue preseason play on Saturday, playing SAIT in Castlegar at 5:00 PM.